Floods damage 110 km of international border fence, 90 BSF posts in Punjab, Jammu

New Delhi: More than 110 km of the India-Pakistan international border (IB) fence has been damaged and about 90 BSF posts inundated due to floods in the forward areas of Jammu and Punjab, official sources said on Thursday.

Of the 2,289 km IB that also runs along the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat on the country's western side, the border force guards about 192 km in Jammu and 553 km in Punjab.

About 80 km of the IB fence in Punjab and around 30 km of it in Jammu has been damaged by the floods that have wreaked havoc. The fence at these places has either submerged, uprooted or tilted, officials said.

Floods have also damaged or inundated about 20 Border Security Force (BSF) posts in Jammu and 65-67 in Punjab. Several forward defence points (FDPs) or high-ground located observation posts of the force have also been impacted.

The force has now begun a "mega exercise" in these two areas to restore the fence and the border outposts (BOPs) so that troops can occupy them again, an official told PTI.

The IB in these affected areas is being secured through drone surveillance, usage of large searchlights, boat patrolling and electronic monitoring. The water is receding and the BSF will be back to its position in no time, he said.

A BSF jawan drowned in floodwaters in Jammu a few days back.

Punjab is witnessing its worst floods since 1988 while Jammu has been hit by record-breaking rains as the Tawi river, popularly known as Surya Putri, has inundated hundreds of homes and several hectares of farmland.