BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE
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IMPACT OF TERRAIN
High mountains are ideal natural barriers against armed conflict, but impossible to fence off. Riverines and jungles may slow down mass mobilisation but it is difficult to stop small armed insertions. Plains need to be fenced and actively guarded to stop human and goods movements. Proximity to populations will make it difficult to prevent smuggling and/or provide protection from cross-border shelling. Desert regions are ideal for large scale ground offensives. They are desolate, difficult to man or fence, but movements can be easily detected.

High mountainous terrain:    North and NE facing China and Pakistan
Desert terrain:              NW facing Pakistan
Jungle terrain:              NE facing Myanmar & Bangladesh
Marshy terrain:            Guj and Raj facing Pakistan
Riverine:                      Assam and Bangladesh; J&K and Pakistan.
Plains:                          Punjab and Pakistan; WB and Bangladesh.
Islands:                        Andaman and Nicobar islands

FENCING
Indo-Pak border (see link 1) comprises 3323km
Rajasthan -
804 km Thar Desert esp in Shahgarh bulge of Jaisalmer district.
═ > extremes of temps,  high winds and shifting dunes
═ > fencing doesn't last long; 32km not fenced but will be.
233km Rann of Kutch terrain nr Barmer district.
═ > salt marshy gets submerged and subsidies under pressure.
═ > difficult to build fences, inaccessible as roads are difficult.
═ > salt is harmful to people. Snake and scorpion bites.

Gujarat -
96 km Sir Creek is a strip of water and salt marsh terrain
106 km Rann of Kutch
394 km White Rann desert
═ > Sir Creek, 64km of RoK and total of 242km not fenced.

Jammu and Kashmir -
1225 km border, of which 200km Jammu-Pak international border & 740km LOC.
═ > mountainous, forested, riverine & populated stretches.
═ > 78 river intersections, debris in the river, overflowing river during winter or rainy season, eg. Chenab river surges from 4.5k to 600k cusecs; water level changes by as much as 50 feet.
═ > gaps in fencing where this is infeasible. Laser wall is a good option.

Punjab -
505 km. Riverine and Plains. River Ravi and tributaries. Farmland, villages, towns, cities and army cantonment. 3 sectors
Fazilka to Firozepur
Gurdaspur to Pathankot
Tarn Taran to Amritsar (Attari sector)
═ > Wall is not always possible. Fencing is easily done, except for riverine sections.

LASER WALLS
Infra-red and laser beams mesh are shone along the border. Signals from intrusion (or breaks in beams) are tracked by satellites capable of seeing through the night, fog and rain, and then monitored by BSF. These will secure porous riverine and treacherous borders. 12 systems were active as of April 2016. The aim is to cover the entire Indo-Pak border with either a fence or a laser wall.

KVI-101S system
Capability upgrade on the previous system. It has IR sensors, hack-proof encryption and smart technologies (see link 2). This enables it to work in marshy terrains; in all weathers; to distinguish human intrusion from animals, and act autonomously (ie capable of intelligent interventions).

BORDER SECURITY DEVICES
Border security will have a mix of technologies, from smart fencing, laser walls, floodlights, cameras & sensors (thermal, motion), ground penetrating radar, vehicles and drones
┼  Strong flood lights eg solar power with rechargeable batteries and diesel generator backup.
┼  Remotely operated cameras
┼  Sensors based on acoustic, seismic, inductive and infrared methods. Seismic distinguished human vs vehicles. Inductive detects moving metal objects. IR detects human body heat.
┼  Radars if well designed, are unmanned, like ground sensing radar and foliage-penetrating radar
┼  For patrols/ personal: Night vision devices eg. night goggles and handheld thermal imagers, are usually in short supply
┼  For premises: Unattended ground sensors are an expensive, imported kit
┼  Security dogs are an essential adjunct to mechanical devices
┼  Aerial drones (passive or armed) are cheap and scan a large area: Loiter drones are very high in the sky and avoid "line of sight issues"; Swarm of mini-UVA are handheld, part of BSS surveillance system and can avoid "black spots in the immediate vicinity".
┼  Speed boats, hovercraft, ground vehicles, helos

Border Infrastructure: Modi government driving strategic projects with radical changes