'Anti-cut' fencing on Pak, B'desh borders (IANS Special)

Aiming to check infiltration into India through international borders the country shares with Pakistan and Bangladesh and to curb anti-national activities like terrorism and smuggling, the government has come up with a more robust 'anti-cut' wire fencing project to replace the old barbed wire fencing.

As per Border Security Force (BSF) sources, the project began in Mizoram on India-Bangladesh border covering a patch of 3 kms in 2017 with a cost of Rs 1.99 crore for one km.

"A similar stretch of 7.18 kms in Cachar districts in Silchar is being fenced with the new anti-cut wires with a cost of over 14.30 crore."

A BSF official, who spoke to IANS on condition of anonymity, said all the fencing on borders with Pakistan (3,323 kms) and Bangladesh (4,096 kms) will be replaced in a phased manner with the anti-cut wire fencing - made of steel wire which is weaned with only five mm gap.

It is learnt that the Ministry of Home Affairs wanted to cover 1,900 kms of the India-Pakistan border with the anti-cut fencing prioritising the regions in Punjab and Jammu.

Two central government agencies -- Engineering Projects India Limited and National Projects Construction Corporation Limited – are reported to be erecting the border fencing in Mizoram and the current project in Cachar frontier.

These agencies may take part in replacing the barbed wire fencing with anti-cut fencing on the international borders India shares with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

"Unlike old wire fencing which are cut easily, it would be very difficult to cut the new 'anti-cut' wire fencing. The cutting process of the new wire fencing would be very long, and a big patch of the fencing would need to be cut by infiltratora to get entry to the Indian side."

The government began the pilot anti-cut fencing project from the landlocked state in northeast, Mizoram, the fifth smallest state of India whose southern part shares 828 km long international border with Myanmar (510 kms) and Bangladesh (318 kms) and northern part share domestic borders with Manipur, Assam and Tripura, to stop drugs and arms smuggling.

Of Mizoram's 318-km border with Bangladesh, 233 kms is to be fenced with the new fence in the coming days – the time frame is not yet finalised -- another official said, adding barbed wire fencing was undertaken in this region in 2005 to check various border crimes, smuggling of arms and drugs and cross-border movement of militants.

The barbed wire fencing work along the India-Bangladesh border with Mizoram had been delayed due to several reasons, including topographical adversaries.

However, the Assam Rifles, anti-insurgency trained paramilitary force, and the BSF have stepped up security on the India-Myanmar border along eastern Mizoram and India-Bangladesh border to stop drugs, arms smuggling and cross-border movement of inimical elements.IANS