21 months on, BSF still bereft of hi-tech tools to fight nature

Shaurya Karanbir Gurung

Tribune News Service

Kori Creek (Gujarat), March 29

With security forces going in for modernisation at the “peaceful” India-Pakistan border in Gujarat, the Border Security Force (BSF) is still bereft of equipment that can withstand the vagaries of nature here.

Of late, the region has witnessed a decline in infiltration, including those by Pakistani fishermen crossing the international boundary to find a better catch in the Indian waters.

During a visit to the Creek areas and the Great Rann of Kutch located along the border in June, 2013, The Tribune learnt that equipment such as fast-attack craftand all-weather floating border outposts (BOPs) that can withstand extreme weather conditions such as turbulent water and strong winds were in the process of being procured.

A visit of The Tribune to the same areas again in the first week of this March revealed that most of the equipment are yet to be procured.

Inspector General (Gujarat Frontier) Santosh Mehra said the Ministry of Home Affairs had approved an “integrated surveillance grid” located along the border in Gujarat. The grid, consisting of Hand Held Thermal Imagers, LORROS and Battle Field Surveillance Radar (BFSR), would be installed in phases, he said.

“The surveillance grid can be damaged during rains and sandstorms. The Rann of Kutch experiences extreme heat during summers and this has damaged glasses of some of the cameras. We need equipment which are rugged and can withstand the vagaries of nature,” sources said. Mehra said the BSF was procuring 10 all-weather floating BOPs for guarding the six creeks —- Kori, Padala, the disputed Sir Creek, Pabewari, PirSanai and Vianbari —- near the India-Pakistan border in Gujarat.

A floating BOP is armed with “well-trained” BSF personnel and weaponry which includes medium machine guns and grenade launchers. Each floating BOP is equipped with fast-patrol boats that patrol the creeks.

The BSF is still using “fair-weather” floating BOPs, which cannot operate during the monsoon from April to September, due to high water turbulence. “The turbulent condition of the sea is equally applicable to both nations. So if we find it difficult to operate in those areas, they (Pakistan) also find it difficult to operate there. Our activity definitely gets reduced,” he said.

The BSF takes the help of Air Force’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sorties to keep a watch on the creeks, especially during the monsoon.

“We have regular missions and sorties carried out by UAVs of the Air Force and we get live pictures on the border to know what sort of activity is taking place. The moment a UAV is able to sight an object or individual, the message is sent to us and we immediately send our parties and see that they are either caught or go behind the lines,” said Mehra.

Sources in the BSF said the Air Force had positioned a squadron of UAVs near the creeks. It is better for the BSF to procure some UAVs to shed off its dependence on the Air Force.

The BSF is also procuring some all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), which will be used to patrol the marshy areas of the Great Rann of Kutch, where foot patrolling is difficult. “The state-of-the-art technology could not work there. A bulletproof ATV, which was on trial, got stuck in the marshy area near the Western Terminus (located near the border),” Mehra said.