Military bases to be under e-surveillance, Defence Ministry discusses issue with tri-service chiefs

The three major terror attacks on military establishments last year when heavily armed fidayeens (suicide bombers) were able to scale boundary walls, breach perimeter security and enter the camps to inflict high casualties of soldiers and officers, has finally set the Army, Navy and Air Force to fortify the security of its vital installations and camps with electronic surveillance to effectively curb any intrusion.

Alarmed with the attack on the artillery unit in Nagrota, 3 km outside the 16 Corps headquarters, which claimed the lives of seven army men last November and the previous attacks on the brigade headquarters in Uri, killing 18 and the Pathankot Air Force station where seven security personnel lost their lives, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued guidelines based on the recommendations of Lt Gen Philip Campose (retd) to all three services to fortify perimeter security.

In addition to physical security through boundary walls, sentry patrolling and fencing, the Army is now looking to secure its camps and establishments along the LoC and in the hinterland electronically, through surveillance cameras, entry intrusion detection system, infra-red lights, and security lights.

Top government sources said that the MoD has discussed the issue in detail with the chiefs of tri-services and recommended its implementation at the earliest. The security of the camps and the recurring militant attacks were also the main topic of discussion, sources said, in the December meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by former Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and then Vice Chief of the Army Staff (now Chief of Army Staff) Lt Gen Bipin Rawat assured the committee that the gaps in perimeter security were being addressed and the army is procuring systems for electronic surveillance along with physical sentries.

"Army camps and establishments until now were manned by physical security alone, which is manpower-intensive. Some of these establishments have just boundary walls or barbed wire fencing and sentries are deployed for patrolling within the premises. The electronic means will assist in addition to the physical presence of men,'' a senior official from the MoD said.

One of the technical devices the army is out to procure is Entry Intrusion Detection (EID) system to detect any movement around the wall and alert the sentries. In all the three attacks last year, a small number of terrorists, dressed in military fatigues, stormed the premises in early morning hours when the sentries change duty, by jumping the perimeter wall (Pathankot, Nagrota) or by cutting the fence (Uri).

In the Nagrota attack, terrorists overcame the boundary wall and opened fire on the sentries who detected their presence. The EID system will detect any movement near the wall or the fence alerting a sentries even if he is 200 metres away from the perimeter boundary.

The army is also making way for tracks in between the boundary wall and fence for patrolling. Other measures suggested by the army include monitoring of civilian population in the periphery of its establishment and camps to identify new residents, visitors and pruning of trees around the camps.

Under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS), the BSF is also procuring an electronic system to detect tunnel digging along the border. Last year, BSF detected two cross-border tunnels near Chamliyal in Samba sector in November and along the international border in R S Pura sector in March, which could have been dug up by terrorists.

While there is no system to detect tunnels, MHA has identified a German technology, including a kind of wire, which can be laid underground to detect seismic variations. This is now being tested at BSF's Tekanpur factory.

Attacks on military establishments

May 2015: Brigade HQ, Tangdhar

November 2015: Army camp, Tangdhar

January 2016: Pathankot Air Force base

September 2016: Uri attack, Brigade Headquarters

November 2016: Artillery Unit, Nagrota

Pruning of trees outside military camps

The army has also issued orders to prune all trees, cut down grown branches and grass around perimeter of the fences. Investigation on how terrorists entered the Pathankot and Nagrota camps revealed the presence of a tree which was used by the terrorists for assistance in climbing the boundary wall. Tall grass is also ordered to be pruned for better clarity of vision.