Border Management – UPSC GS3

India to completely seal its 3323 KM long border with Pakistan by Dec, 2018

BSF to install KAVACH series laser walls which is capable of detecting intrusions and relaying information to the nearest post for action to safeguard the 198 km India-Pakistan international border in Jammu and Kashmir

Government has recently approved

24x7x365 surveillance of the border through technology

It is a five-layer elaborate plan to completely stop infiltration on the 2,900-km western border with Pakistan.

It entails round-the-clock surveillance through sophisticated technology which in effect will totally “lock” India’s western border to prevent Pathankot-like terror attacks and smuggling

It would also help security forces catch those who help in infiltration from the Indian side of the border, as the radars would have a 360-degree coverage and the cameras would work day-and-night looking on both sides.

Five Layers include:

CCTV cameras.Thermal image and night-vision devices.Battlefield surveillance radar.Underground monitoring sensors.Laser barriers.

The Union Government had announced that work on installing smart fence along 3,323-km-long the India-Pakistan border will begin soon.

The new fence will have a multi-tier security ring comprising an alarm to security force personnel in case of any infiltration bid or attempts to cut the fence.

The present one has a high rate of degradation due to snow and has to be repaired after every season which costs about Rs. 50-60 crore every year

Over time infiltrators have devised ways to cross it

The forces are already using CCTV cameras, night thermal imagers and sensors in sensitive areas. But the technology used is not superior

More than 1.5 Lakh flood lights have been installed on 50000 polls by government on border to track the movement along borders using binoculars

Satellites: India’s Border Security Force (BSF) is a regular user of satellite imagery

However, an issue with satellite imagery is that it may not provide real time information about a location, keeping in view the time taken by a satellite to orbit around the earth. Therefore, there are plans to employ Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) also

It is a border which separates India and Pakistan territory according to Boundary Commission led by Britisher Cyril Radcliffe

It separates Gujarat and Rajasthan from Sindh Province of Pakistan, East Pakistan of India from West Pakistan of Pakistan (Wagha Line), and Jammu and Kashmir from Khyber Pakthkhuwa, formely North West Frontier Region (NWFP)

Its starts from Pillar No. 1175 in Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, India and ends at Akhnoor Region, Jammu and Kashmir

This is known as International Border (IB), Radcliffe Line, Working Boundary (in Pakistan)

When Pakistani Army intruded Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947, it led to First Kashmir War (1947-49).

Due to UN intervention, ceasefire (de facto) was demarcated between Indian and Pakistani Military in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in ending the war

This line divides the Princely States of Jammu and Kashmir into- Jammu, Kashmir Valley, Ladakh (Indian Controlled) & Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir)

This line, after the Shimla Agreement(1972) between Indian PM Ms. Indira Gandhi and her Pakistani counterpart Zulfiar Ali Bhutto, came to be known as Line of Control (LOC)

LOC runs from Akhnoor Region of Jammu Valley to Point NJ9842.

This border is one of most dangerous border in the world

Since 2014, there have been more than 900 ceasefire violations along the Pakistan border in Jammu.

At the LoC, which is under the operational control of the Army, 541 violations were reported during the same period. In these violations, 57 locals and 26 security personnel were killed.