GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the Border Security Force(BSF) to set up a control room at the state capital complex in Dispur here to monitor the Indo-Bangla order area activities.
The Chief Minister Sonowal made the suggestion during a high-level review meeting to discuss about the progress of border fencing works, infiltration and other security related border issues which was held at the Brahmaputra State Guest House here, an official source here informed.
Sonowal said a control room equipped with modern technology would be very helpful in monitoring of border fencing works, infiltration and other border issues from Guwahati itself and it would also remove all other bottlenecks. He also said that the control room would be a better platform to formulate mechanism to ensure security at the 135 K.M. Mizoram-Cachar frontier areas of Karimganj and Cachar district and 147 K.M Assam-Dhubri sector, besides providing adequate inputs to the state government on border issues. Moreover, he stressed that the control room would facilitate checking of illegal trading of cattle through reverine areas of Dhubri border.
The BSF officials informed the Chief Minister that as per direction from the Union Home Ministry, they had already adopted modern technology for border security including tackling infiltration through 61 K.M. riverine areas of Dhubri border. They informed that the entire process would be completed within September 30 this year. They also informed the Chief Minister that the BSF would strengthen its monitoring using advance technology like Radar, Electro Optic Sensor, Fixed Camera, Aquatic Sensor etc., apart from floating platform, under water sensor and drone services. They further said that once information was received about any infiltration or other untoward activity, Quick Reaction Team (QRT) would be pressed into service immediately for necessary action.
Briefing the CM about several significant steps that had been adopted to deal with smuggling of cattle through border, the BSF officials informed that as a result of joint initiatives by the state government and the BSF, cattle stumbling through border had significantly gone down. While 39,558 cattle were seized during 2016 and 16593 during 2017, only 1051 cattle were seized upto July this year and this showed that illegal trading was on the downward turn. The BSF officials also informed the CM that the 3.22 K.M. pilot project for smart fencing at the border had already been completed.
