Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique, a solution to border-guarding

GUWAHATI: India has come out with a technological solution to guarding its border with Bangladesh in Dhubri district of Assam. 

The entire stretch of the 61 km border in Dhubri has been brought under technological surveillance. The initiative, officials of Border Security Force (BSF) say, will curb cross-border crimes and give respite to the BSF from round-the-clock human surveillance.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) under CIBMS (Comprehensive Integrated Border Management system) on the international border in Dhubri on Tuesday.

India shares a 4,096 km long border with Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra enters Bangladesh via Dhubri and the place has vast char (sandbar) land and innumerable river channels. Given geographical barriers, erecting border fence is not possible at various places. As such, border-guarding is an uphill task here, especially during the rainy season.

To overcome the problem, the Centre had in 2017 decided to go for a technological solution. In January last year, the BSF’s IT wing undertook the project BOLD-QIT and completed it in record time with technical support from various agencies.

“The BOLD-QIT is a project to install technical systems under CIBMS which enables the BSF to equip the border with sensors in the unfenced riverine area of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Now, the entire span of Brahmaputra has been covered with data network generated by microwave communication, OFC cables, DMR communication, day and night surveillance cameras and intrusion detection system. These modern gadgets provide feeds to BSF control rooms on the border and enable the BSF quick reaction teams (QRTs) to thwart any possible infiltration or crimes,” official sources said.

A BSF officer told this newspaper it is an end-to-end project under which 21 border outposts have been covered.  “Surveillance equipment have been placed all along the border in Dhubri and they are connected to the command centre. Someone sitting at the command centre can observe the entire patch of the border. There are alarm systems and whenever there is an intrusion, a QRT of the BSF will rush to the place,” he said. 

Cattle-smuggling, among others, thrives in Dhubri sector of the international border. Once smuggled into Bangladesh, a cow can fetch twice or sometimes trice its price in India.