BSF will get hi-tech help to secure border
NEW DELHI: To keep a tab on over- ground movement and underground vibration on IndiaPakistan border, the government has decided to use sophisticated technology to help the Border Security Force (BSF) check any intrusion or digging there.
“We have identified two 30- kilometre- long stretches in Bhuj (Gujarat) and Gurdaspur ( Punjab) along the Indo- Pak border that runs for more than 3,000km. The cost of the project is coming to ` 1 crore to ` 1.25 crore per km. The government is going to install a fibre-optic distributed acoustic sensing system that can detect very minor movement on the ground and even digging underneath it,” said a home ministry official requesting anonymity.
The official explained that the system uses simple fibre optic communications cables as sensor. It can detect surface crossing as well as tunnel construction. The cable is buried under ground. Basically, it has an acoustic and seismic-sensing capability.
Besides the distributed acoustic sensor system, the BSF will also rely on close- circuit cameras with night vision capabilities, radars and thermal imagers for a comprehensive integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) to improve border surveillance. The radar is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
“All these devices will work in a synchronised manner. We may be able to detect any digging activity to check any tunnel construction with the help of the system,” said the official.
Recently, the BSF had detected a tunnel at the Indo-Pak border in Jammu sector.
Haribhai Chaudhary, minister of state for home, had informed Rajya Sabha in February about the CIBMC project taken up in Gurdaspur.