New Delhi: To keep a strict vigil on the vast Indo-Bangladesh border in the North East region for border crimes like rampant cattle smuggling, the Border Security Force (BSF) has acquired Israeli-made drones.
Besides the tethered drones, the forces have also ordered for thermal imaging cameras; Electro Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensors (used for military or law enforcement applications) underwater and underground sensors, as well as pan–tilt–zoom (PTZ) cameras.
The move to acquire the drones — though in high capacity to man the long and porous Indo-Bangladesh border in the region — by the Union Home Ministry comes after the same were provided to check developmental work in the region by the Centre recently.
The Israeli-tethered drones — each worth about $52,000 — are equipped with day-and-night vision cameras that capture images over a two-kilometre distance and from a height of 150 metres. They are used to capture images of cattle smugglers crossing the border between both countries, official sources said.
Having aerial surveillance from a sufficient height offers a distinct advantage, as they are not affected by high winds and also get continuous power supply, the sources had added.
Patrolling the Indo-Bangladesh border at many points is difficult because of the vast sand bars (submerged or partly exposed ridges of sand or coarse sediment created by water) and several river channels, especially during the monsoon season.
“The objective is to send out a message of deterrence, even though smugglers are aware that they are under constant watch,” the officer said.
To counter the aggressive surveillance mounted by border forces, smugglers have adopted strategies like blending in with the local population, deploying Indian villagers to carry out smuggling operations, and paying people to act as lookouts.
In the recent past, smugglers have been arrested while sneaking cattle through culverts located under border roads and tying the animals on plantain trunks and setting them afloat on rivers and streams.
Using hollow papaya stems as snorkels to breathe underwater, the smugglers also guide cattle across the border.
Last year, the Indian government launched a smart-fencing Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) project along the Indo-Bangladesh border in some places.
The project, inspired by Israeli technology, entails installing technical and electronic systems along the unfenced riverine area of Lower Assam.
A data network of the riverine border separating both countries is generated and is managed by microwave communication, optical fibre cables, digital mobile radio (DMR) communication, day-and-night surveillance cameras and border protection radar systems.
The 4156-km Indo-Bangladesh border is the fifth longest in the world and spans five Indian states — Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, and West Bengal.
By length, it is more than the Indo-Pak or Indo-China frontier and much more vulnerable because of topography and common demography.
Earlier, the Ministry of DoNER had sought help of drones for keeping a check on the developmental projects in remote and difficult areas of the North East region.
