Committee flags gaps, vulnerability in Indo-Pak border fencing

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) Use of scientific technology andheightened vigil on riverine frontiers while guarding theIndo-Pak border are among the suggestions given by a HomeMinistry-appointed committee which also flagged gaps andvulnerability in border fencing. The committee, headed by former Union Home SecretaryMadhukar Gupta, was set up following the terror attack onPathankot air base and it submitted its report to HomeMinister Rajnath Singh today. Official sources said the committee suggested thatscientific methods like laser walls could not be installed inmany infiltration-prone areas where due to treacherous terrainor marshy riverine fencing could not be installed so far. The committee has given separate recommendations for fourstates which touch the international border with Pakistan aseach state has separate topography and problems. Of the 3,323 km long Indo-Pak border, 1,225 kms falls inJammu and Kashmir (including Line of Control), 553 kms inPunjab, 1,037 kms in Rajasthan and 508 kms in Gujarat. The committee was set up three months after the Januaryterror attack on Pathankot to suggest ways to strengthen thesecurity along the border with Pakistan and address the issueof gaps and vulnerability in border fencing. It has been mandated to study all types of gaps in thefencing and all other vulnerabilities along the border andsuggest a comprehensive approach to fix them on interim andand permanent basis. PTI ACBKUN