NEW DELHI, Nov 30: The Government has sanctioned a fund of Rs 30 crore to procure surveillance cameras, drones and other monitoring gadgets for the BSF deployed to guard Indian fronts along Pakistan and Bangladesh even as it is deploying 5,500 security cameras in the front areas, the chief of the paramilitary said Wednesday.
Reiterating that the illegal activity of drones along the western front (Pakistan) remains a “major challenge” for them, BSF director general Pankaj Kumar Singh said at present the force “does not” have a fool-proof system or solution to counter the menace posed by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“However, we will find solutions in the times to come and we are increasingly detecting and killing the drones,” he said while interacting with reporters on the eve of the 58th Raising Day of the BSF.
“We have tried to enhance the surveillance in border areas in a very very big way. This entails use of surveillance cameras and drones on the western and eastern theatres (Pakistan and Bangladesh fronts respectively).” “We have got around 5,500 CCTV surveillance cameras and some other gadgets and the Union home ministry has sanctioned a Rs 30 crore fund for this procurement,” Singh said.
The BSF too has developed some “low-cost technology solutions” that helps us to mount effective surveillance in the border areas. Similar tools provided by foreign vendors were found very costly and hence we have now in-house developed low-cost sensors and surveillance devices, he said.
The DG said the troops of his force were getting “more and more” efficient in detecting and shooting down drones that fly from across Pakistan into India.
We shot down 16 drones along the Pakistan front this year as compared to one that was brought down in this region last year, he said.
According to the BSF, 114 drone sightings were made by its troops along the Pakistan front (both IB and LoC) last year while the numbers this year till November 10 have risen to almost double at 218.
The BSF chief said ensuring robust cyber security was also a “major challenge” before security agencies like the BSF as he cited the recent example of the Ransomware attack on the servers of the AIIMS in Delhi.
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