Floods submerge 87 BSF border outposts; fencing damaged along 110 km stretch

AP photo

NEW DELHI: Swollen rivers spanning both the Jammu and Punjab frontiers have submerged around 87 border outposts manned by BSF and damaged border fencing in stretches running a length of 110 km, sources told TOI on Wednesday.BSF officials, however, stressed that there is no letup in border vigil despite the floods, which have affected Pakistan’s border areas equally or more. The force personnel have in fact stepped up surveillance with drones and aids like searchlights and night vision devices to detect and bust any attempts at infiltration from across Pakistan. The BSF ‘seema praharis’ are now conducting regular riverine patrols on boats and have positioned themselves in the depth areas (some distance inside the international border) or on higher ground to detect and foil any attempts by Pakistani terrorists to sneak across the international border, taking advantage of the floods.Sources said BSF is already repairing the damaged forward defence posts or high-mound posts to ensure that its personnel are safe and can keep an eye on any illegal border crossings.An officer said the flood-affected areas along the international border/LoC in Jammu division include Samba, Jammu, Akhnoor and R S Pora; while the Punjab division covers Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Fazilka and a few parts of other districts. The swollen rivers causing havoc in Jammu include Badi and Chhoti Tawi and Chenab. In Punjab, the Ravi and Sutlej rivers have inundated the BSF outposts as well as the fence.Sources told TOI that the fencing is currently under water in a 20 km IB stretch in Jammu frontier and a 67 km stretch in Punjab frontier. “The actual extent of damage to the fence will be known only after the water recedes. As per the current assessment, fencing is partially damaged in certain stretches and fully washed away in others,” an officer told TOI.The officer added: “Drones have been pressed to watch over infiltration attempts and foil them in real time. BSF personnel have stepped back a little to the depth areas in view of the floods. They are ensuring tight vigil and using force multipliers and technical surveillance and aids like searchlights and night vision devices to deny the terrorists the slightest chance of crossing over”.