Zero-tolerance to intrusion, says BSF

For making their presence felt in the otherwise almost inaccessible and most porous and treacherous portion of area of the disputed Sir Creek, called Harami Nala, the water wing of the Border Security Force (BSF) for the first time fired upon seven Pakistani fishing boats. 

This made the intruders retreat to their adjacent Pakistani waters to save themselves from the paramilitary force which meant business this time as they had clear orders from their headquarters in New Delhi to resort to firing if need be.

"We do not know as to whether there was any casualty. But chances are poor for they were not within the firing range when they were spotted. The idea was to warn them and to tell the intruders who chose this easy route that their intrusion would not be tolerated any more.

This was a sort of deterrent measure,'' a highly placed source in the BSF told this paper. The source said there had been no immediate protest from Pakistan as it was when some time back Pakistani boats were fired on from an Indian helicopter on its surveillance sortie.

The sources said that the water wing patrol boats with more than dozen jawans had left its base near Guneri area for patrolling in the wee hours. Since Harami Nala, a shallow water creek, had no water, the patrol party had to walk through muddy area for four to five km when it noticed Pakistani boats 700 to 800 metres away. The patrol party opened fired on them after issuing warning.

According to sources in the BSF, India has time and again protested against continuing infiltration of Pakistani into Indian side of Harami Nala, but there has been no action on the part of the Pakistani government so far.

Harami Nala is, in fact, a strangely situated creek at the east end of Sir Creek. It starts from Indian side and after crossing the age-old disputed G-Pillars which dot Sir Creek to serve as international maritime border between the two countries, it then goes into Pakistan to return to Indian side at the demarcated border pillar in the Great Rann of Kutch.

To facilitate easy navigation, Pakistan has joined their side of Harami Nala by digging a canal. The sources said it is this facility which was used by Pakistani intruders to sneak into India. The illegal border crossers go back to their portion of nala without being caught by the Indian security agency.

The sources said that though floating BOP has been stationed there, patrol boats could not be launched from there in rough sea of monsoon. In normal times also, it is the draft problem which dogs the force for undertaking effective patrolling all along the bank of Harami nala. To get rid of this perennial problem, the BSF is now constructing a road from Guneri near Lakhapat up to the Harami Nala, half of which has already constructed.

The paramilitary force could reach the nala by road.

BSF is also trying for the past many years to acquire hovercraft and all terrain vehicle (ATV) to patrol in shallow waters. The sources said that the ATVs finally chosen by the force were under trial now and expected to reach here by the first month of the next year.
 However, marine experts say that while ATV could be of use here, hovercrafts would not be effective as they would constantly require very costly repair and maintenance. The sources said that it was okay if the hovercraft was used on land for limited purpose, but here since the entire area consisted of marshy land, it could not be effective. In fact, in the past the hovercraft was tried here, but was found not successful here.