By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd) Former Director General of Information Systems, Indian Army

Border Recce

Border Security Force

As reported in the media, government has approved the establishment of a ‘Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System' (CIBMS) for 24x7x365 surveillance of the border through technology. This was considered the only solution to avoid further terror attacks like Pathankot, including infiltration and smuggling activities. It is first time that India will completely “lock” its 2,900 kms western border. The five-layered surveillance cover will entail CCTV cameras, thermal imagers, night-vision devices, battlefield surveillance radar, underground monitoring sensors and laser barriers to track all movement from the other side along the border. Adequate redundancy is proposed in the integrated set-up to to ensure if one device doesn't work, another will alert the control room in case of a transgression. Control rooms are planned every five-six kms. At a cost of Rs one crore per km, the CIBMS project is to cost some Rs 2,900 crores. Laser barriers are to cover 130 unfenced sections including riverine and mountain terrain from J&K to Gujarat. There were 224 infiltration attempts from Pakistan during 2014 and 100 during 2015.

The government plans to complete the entire CIBMS project in two years. As reported on April 27, a dozen laser walls had been made operational along the Indo-Pak border in Punjab to plug the porous riverine and treacherous terrain. Eight IR and laser beam intrusion detection systems were "up and working" while four more were to be operationalised in the next few days. A total of 45 such laser walls are to be installed in such areas along the IB in Punjab and Jammu. In addition, work on two pilot projects on stretches of five km each, one in Punjab and another in Jammu, was started after issuing a global tender two weeks ago. The next phase will be stretch of 30 kms each in Gujarat and Punjab. With round the clock 360 degree coverage, the CIBMS is also to target anti-national elements that help in infiltration from the Indian side of the border. MHA has also approved one such pilot project along the Indo-Bangla border in West Bengal. Two pilot projects in J&K are already on. It was reported in these columns last September that Army had tried three new designs for a hi-tech modular fence during 2014-2015; one provided by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) and two prepared in-house by the Army. Testing was done by constructing one-km long sample fences in Kupwara sector.

In the new design, strong, circular pole are used instead of traditional iron picket. Also, anew new type of concertina coil is used that has a double-twisted galvanized mesh added to either side. The design is modular, which makes it easier to carry the stores, and to construct and repair the fence. The new design includes night-vision cameras, alarms and visual map displays integrated with the fence, all of them linked to a monitoring room, giving local commanders real-time data enabling quick reaction against any attempt to tamper with the fence. The fence is also proposed to be lit up using LED lighting where feasible. Existing fence in Jammu Sector is already lighted. While the construction began by the Army, for overall construction and maintenance of the fence, the government had sanctioned three new Territorial Army Engineer battalions for Northern Command. Soldiers for these units were recruited, undergoing training, and were to be deployed by March 2016. The CIBMS undoubtedly is an excellent initiative but the bottom-line is that it is not possible to completely “lock” any border albeit it certainly reduces the chances of terrorists and infiltrators slipping through. A good lock has enhanced security in the sense that thieves take longer to break the code or the lock itself. We have a master thief in Pakistan and a very determined one at that. The degree of success of CIBMS would therefore be subject to the following:

1. Pakistan resorting to firing and artillery, mortar shelling to assist infiltration – they have done so both in the LoC and IB sector in J&K;
2. adverse weather conditions degrading functionality of surveillance devices;
3. use of demolitions and IEDs from one or both sides of the LoC / IB especially optimizing low visibility in adverse weather conditions;
4. quality and range of underground monitoring devices considering tunneling activities along the Indo-Pak border and elsewhere in the world, and;
5. any amount of redundancies can be offset by the human factor.

Temporary technical failures can be engineered. Radicalization apart, India consumes some 11 tons of heroin alone annually, costs being in lakhs of crores. Over Rs 7,500 crore worth of drugs is consumed on an annual basis in Punjab alone. The political nexus in such trade is obvious. That is why the inquiry into the Pakistani infiltration for the Patahnkot terror attack including the questioning of SP Salwinder Singh has been allowed to die down – possibly in face of forthcoming elections in Punjab. Significantly, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has observed that the role of Punjab Police was very "questionable and suspicious" during the January 2 terror attack in Pathankot. This was the main reason why Army’s Technical Support Division was shut down through a sham board, as it could monitor such activities both along our western and eastern borders. The CIBMS, therefore, will perforce be operating under such constraints.