Border Infrastructure and Management
Context:
Government has decided to continue the Umbrella scheme of Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM) from 2021-22 to 2025-26
India’s Border length with neighboring counties:
- 4,096 km With Bangladesh
- 3,488 km with china
- 3,323 km with Pakistan.
- 1,751 km with Nepal
- 1,643 km with Myanmar
- 699 km with Bhutan
- 106 km with Afghanistan
About:
- “Border Infrastructure and Management” (BIM) is a central sector scheme and it has been continued over the 15th Finance Commission cycle from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
- The scheme will strengthen the border infrastructure for improving border management, policing and guarding the borders.
- The BIM scheme will help in the creation of infrastructure such as construction of border fence, border flood lights, technological solutions, border roads and Border Outposts (BOPs)/Company Operating Bases (COBs) to secure the Indo-Pakistan, Indo-Bangladesh, Indo-China, Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Myanmar borders.
Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM): Importance of border infrastructure
- Resilience against security challenges: Border infrastructure helps in dealing with transnational issues like cross-border terrorism, infiltration of armed militants and insurgents, narcotics and arms smuggling; illegal migration; left-wing extremism and separatist movements fuelled by external powers.
- Better trade relations: Robust border infrastructure helps in building ties with the neighbouring countries. Example: Border Haats with Bangladesh.
- Inclusive growth: Border road infrastructure plays a significant role in the overall development of the region, especially in harsh terrains such as Desert (Rajasthan), extreme hilly area (northeast) and Cold desert (Jammu Kashmir and Leh Ladakh).
- Unravel tourism: Proper road infrastructure would help in promoting tourism in the lofty Himalayas.
- Maintaining peace and stability: Border road infrastructure helps in maintaining peace and stability in the border areas.
- Disaster management: Better border infrastructure in the difficult and harsh terrains of Indian borders will make the country prepared and self-sufficient to handle the wide range of disasters.
Challenges ahead:
- Rough and difficult terrain
- Weather and Climatic conditions
- Seismically active areas in most of the border
- Cease fire violation and border intrusions
- Inadequate manpower, funds with Border Road organisation (BRO)
- Redtapism and bureaucratic delays in projects
Other program for improving border infrastructure and management:
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
| Country | 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
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