Smart Wall for Indian Borders

Content:

United States President Joe Biden has halted the construction of the much-publicised ‘border wall’ between the United States and Mexico. 

However, an alternative ‘Smart wall’ has been proposed to replace the physical and armed patrolling with advanced surveillance technology.

What is a Small Wall?

• At present, there’s no single definition for the ‘Smart Wall’. 
• A smart wall will use technologies such as scanners, sensors and radars to prevent illicit entry, smuggling and other border threats. 
• The smart wall will empower border officials and enhance situational awareness to prevent illicit activities.
• It will incorporate Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies (such as sensors, security cameras, software solutions) to  distinguish between animals, humans and vehicles.
• An alert will be sent to the officers in case of border breaches by humans. 
• Such a wall will create a technological barrier.

Advantages of Small Wall:

In general, Smart Wall has the following benefits:

• Cost Friendly: A Smart Wall can accomplish the same goals as a physical wall but at a much lower price. 
• Quick Deployment: Physical wall will take years to be developed while the Smart Wall is ready to go technology. 
• Customisation: A Smart Wall will allow border security officials to adjust tactics as per the situations. 
• Ease of Upgradation: IoT devices are quick and easy to deploy and are inexpensive to move and update. 
• Low Maintenance: The maintenance cost of a Smart Wall is much less than a physical wall. 
• Environment Friendly: Smart Wall raises minimal environmental concerns, allowing wildlife and rainwater to pass freely through the area. 
• Easy Surveillance of rugged terrain: Rough terrains are difficult to patrol, making the border vulnerable to breaches. Smart Wall will overcome this drawback posed by a physical wall, enhancing the surveillance across a vast terrain. 
• Limited Land Use: Smart Wall technology requires fewer land acquisition by the government as compared to a physical border.
• Quick Response to threats: IoT technologies will allow patrolling agents to survey hundreds of miles at a time. Additionally, a real-time alert will make it easy for them to respond to activity from immigrants approaching the border or to a lost hiker looking for supplies.

In the Indian Border Security context:

• Smart Wall will enhance critical security establishments across long boundaries of India and complement existing fencing and walls. 
• If deployed along the Indian borders, will provide the security forces present at the border with an advantage over enemies and border infiltration can be effectively countered. 
• The problem of cross-border terrorism and smuggling in India could be reduced effectively.

Hurdles for implementation in India: 

• The BSF does not have the required technical expertise to offer clear guidelines to the vendors so that they can provide suitable products.
• In the case of India, it is widely accepted that the operation and maintenance of the existing sophisticated equipment remain a problem. 
• At present, many of the high-tech surveillance devices deployed by the BSF are not optimally utilised because the required technical expertise is not uniformly available among the force’s personnel. 
• Furthermore, the exorbitant cost of the electronic devices and the lack of easy availability of spare parts act as a deterrent against their use
• Erratic power supply and adverse climatic and terrain conditions in the border areas could potentially undermine the functioning of the sophisticated system