The Border Security Force (BSF) is working on a project to erect a floating fence made of aluminium to plug holes along the large riverine West Bengal- Bangladesh border.
The ‘pilot project’ for erecting this lightweight fence, half submerged in water, is underway in the Gojadanga border area where both the land and riverine International Border (IB) between the two countries meet at a place called Panitar.
“The project is being undertaken by the Central Public Works Department in the border areas. The force is using various technical gadgets and techniques to secure this border which has a large percentage of riverine areas and is more difficult to guard as compared to the land areas,” BSF Inspector General (South Bengal Frontier) Sandeep Salunke said.
Officials manning the frontier here said Gojadanga, in the North 24 Parganas district, has been picked for the project as the riverine areas of Icchamati river here are the most challenging given the difficult terrain and topography.
“The aluminium fence being tested here is called ‘infinium’ and it will entail erecting long poles of the metal held up straight by a reinforced mixture of concrete and cement under the water.
“Such a fence is expected to be tensile in strength and at par with steel. As it is aluminium, it is also considered corrosion and rust proof which is a big requirement for such assets submerged in saline waters here,” the official said.
BSF commanders said the fence will have an intertwining of concertina wires and will have colour coding to denote its location during high-tide.
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