Holes in India’s move to fence its border with Bangladesh have become more glaring in the wake of the recent urgency shown by the Centre to secure the eastern front.
After much dilly-dallying, India earlier this month decided to accelerate works to erect barbed wires along the unfenced stretch of the Indo-Bangladesh border following reports of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) getting active in the neighbouring country.
Can fencing be a deterrent?
The resumption of fencing work in West Bengal this month met with stiff resistance from Bangladesh, leading to a diplomatic wrangle between the two countries.
The development naturally raised the question as to why India failed to complete the fencing work when a friendly government was in power in the neighbouring country for 15 years.
And, more importantly, can the fencing act as a deterrent, particularly when questions are often being raised about the poor-quality of the fences.
Also read: India-Bangladesh border talks begin Feb 16; focus on fencing, infiltration
Porous border
The physical work to fence 4,096.7 kilometers of India’s border with Bangladesh began in 1989 after the signing of the historic Assam Accord in 1985.
By December 2015, the 2,708.77 km of border were fenced out of the sanctioned barbed wire fencing of 3,326.14 km. The home ministry’s annual report revealed that 3,196.70 km has been covered by physical fencing till 2023-24. This means, only 487.93 km of border could be fenced in the next nine years.
The figures clearly indicated that the work slowed down after 2015, leaving 900 km of border porous.
The security challenges posed by the porous border were back on focus after unearthing of terror modules of the Bangladesh-based terrorist group, the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), in Assam and West Bengal last month.
Renewed push
To check cross border terrorism and illegal infiltration, the Centre decided to give a renewed push to the border fencing work earlier this month by deciding to fence at least six unfenced stretches in the Bengal frontier.
The work, however, was halted due to Bangladesh’s strong objections to the construction along the zero-line areas.
India responded to Bangladesh’s opposition pointing out that “with regard to security measures at the border, including on fencing, India observed all protocols and agreements between the two governments and between the Border Security Force and Border Guard Bangladesh.”
The matter will be taken up for discussions at the meeting of the director generals of the border guarding forces of the two countries in February.
Also read: Why BSF needs a big upgrade, physically and technologically
Diplomatic wrangle
Many in Indian security establishments said that the current diplomatic wrangle with the new regime in Dhaka is due to India’s failure to complete the fencing when a friendly government is in power.
Citing an instance, sources said, India had taken the consent of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) by sharing its plan to put up a single-row fence within 150 km of the border pillar at Sabdalpur village in West Bengal’s Malda district four years ago. But despite Dhaka’s go ahead, the fencing work had not been taken up.
Finally, when the attempt was made to fence the border in the village last week, it became a flashpoint.
Apart from the porousness of the border, the quality of the existing fences in many stretches are adding to the security concerns.
Also read: BSF enhances security along India-Bangladesh border, cracks down on smugglers
Poor quality of fencing works
The BSF last month in an internal inquiry flagged the quality of the ongoing fencing works along the India-Bangladesh border in Mizoram sector, punching a hole in the claim of securing the border through barbed fencing.
“Breaching a fence in any way does not take much time. On top of that, if the quality of the fence is not good enough, the whole purpose is completely defeated,” said a senior BSF official.
Sources privy to the report, said the BSF’s board officers that carried out the inspection took serious note of the quality of the work being done by the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) Limited.
The home ministry or the BSF headquarters should rope in an “independent third party” to further check the quality of the work, including lab testing of construction materials at government or government authorised laboratories, the board suggested
It pointed out the use of local stones and stone dusts that are not durable enough for longer run in the construction of pillars. It said the materials also lacked binding effects.
It also found that in certain stretches the barbed wires had already been “loosened and specifications were not followed for installing barbed wire joints on turnbuckles.”
“The NBCC be directed to carry out the work as per CPWD specifications. Further, the materials for construction should be used as per the CPWD specifications,” the board is said to have recommended.
Such poor-quality work is not just a one-off case. In another inspection it was found that a stretch of barbed wire fence erected in 2019 by the National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC) was in rusty condition and broken in certain stretches, needing immediate repair.
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