Border Infrastructure and Management

• 24 Feb 2022

For Prelims: Border Infrastructure & Management, Border Area Development Programme.

For Mains: Significance of Border Infrastructure & Management in Securing Borders.

Why in News?

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the continuation of the Central Sector Umbrella Scheme of “Border Infrastructure and Management” (BIM) over the 15^th Finance Commission Cycle from 2021-22 to 2025-26, at a cost of Rs.13,020 crore.

What does BIM Envisage?

• The BIM scheme will help in the creation of infrastructure such as border fence, border flood lights, technological solutions, border roads and Border OutPosts (BOPs) and company operating bases to secure India's borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
• It will strengthen the border infrastructure for improving border management, policing and guarding the borders.
  • India's border with Pakistan is 3,323 km long, including about 775 km of the Line of Control. The length of the border is 4,096 km with Bangladesh, 3,488 km with China, 1,751 km with Nepal, 699 km with Bhutan, 1,643 km with Myanmar.

What are the other Initiatives to Secure Borders?

• Vibrant Villages Programme:
  • Border villages with sparse population, limited connectivity and infrastructure often get left out from the development gains. Such villages on the northern border will be covered under the new Vibrant Villages Programme, announced in the Budget 2022-23.
  • The activities will include construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centers, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralized renewable energy, direct to home access for Doordarshan and educational channels, and support for livelihood generation.
  • The move has been taken to counter the Chinese 'model villages' close to the LAC (Line of Actual Control).
  • It will be an improved version of the existing border area development programme.
• The Border Area Development Programme:
  • BADP was initiated in the border areas of the western region during the Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90), for ensuring balanced development of border areas through development of infrastructure and promotion of a sense of security among the border population.
  • The programme aims to meet the special development needs of the people living in remote and inaccessible areas situated near the international border and to saturate the border areas with the essential infrastructure through convergence of Central/State/BADP/Local schemes and participatory approach.
• Smart Fencing in India (CIBMS):
  • Two pilot projects covering about 71 Kms on Indo-Pakistan Border (10 Kms) and Indo-Bangladesh Border (61 Kms) of Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) have been completed.
    • CIBMS involves deployment of a range of state-of-the-art surveillance technologies — thermal imagers, infra-red and laser-based intruder alarms, aerostats for aerial surveillance, unattended ground sensors that can help detect intrusion bids, radars, sonar systems to secure riverine borders, fibre-optic sensors and a command and control system that shall receive data from all surveillance devices in real time.
    • BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) under CIBMS on the Indo- Bangladesh border in Dhubri district of Assam is also being used.
• Border Road Organization:
  • Founded in 1960, the organisation plays a major role in providing defense infrastructure including roads, bridges, highways, airports, tunnels, buildings and other such structures.
  • BRO. has constructed lifelines of over 53,600 km for the people of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

A Gist of Border Infrastructure Development
	Main Threat	What needs to be done?	What has been done?
Pakistan	War, insurgency, smuggling.	C.I.B.M.S. monitoring with a well-trained and larger BOLD-QIT, more than one route connecting far flung areas, especially Jammu and Kashmir	C.I.B.M.S. in some stretches, 3rd route to Leh to be opened by 2023.
China	War	Armored vehicle capable infrastructure, high altitude airfields.	Daulet Beg Oldie airfield running, some bridges and tunnels armored vehicle capable.
Bangladesh	Smuggling, human trafficking	C.I.B.M.S. monitoring with BOLD-QIT throughout including riverine stretches	Brahmaputra river covered, rivulets still remaining.
Nepal	Smuggling, human trafficking	C.I.B.M.S. monitoring with BOLD-QIT	Planning stage.
Bhutan	Smuggling	Armored vehicle capable road connectivity till Bhutan-China border.	B.R.O. working on it.
Myanmar	Smuggling, insurgency, trafficking.	C.I.B.M.S. monitoring with bigger and more efficient BOLD-QIT to tackle insurgency, roads for swift troop movements	Some roads present. C.I.B.M.S. planning stage.

Source: PIB