Race against time, nature to shut out militants

After an infiltration attempt by 25 Jaish-e-Mohammed militants in the Baruab sector last month, the Army, in consultation with the Centre, has opted for a new fence on the Shamshabari ridgeline in the Gurez sector rather than rely on the existing fence along the Kishenganga river.

Top Army officials told The Indian Express that this year’s snowfall destroyed over 35 per cent of the LoC fencing, making it easy for militants to slip in. Of the 400 km-long fence north of Pir Panjal, 140 km has been damaged in extreme weather conditions.

The Indian Express found large sections of the fence flattened or destroyed between Dawar and Baruab, Chakwali and Kaobal Gali along the Kishenganga river.

While Brigadier V Diwedi, Chief Engineer of the Kashmir-based 15 Corps, did not quantify the extent of the fence damage, he confirmed that heavy snow this year had played havoc. According to him, work had been taken up on a war-footing to repair the fence.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the fence runs along 734 km of the 742 km-long LoC. It cost Rs 351 crore to erect the fence. As of now, the fence comprises 12-feet high Y-shaped pillars, connected with barbed wires running parallel to the ground.

After the Y-shaped pillar, there are two straight pillars in the second and third tiers, separated by more than a feet. In between the three pillars, razor-sharp concertina wire rolls have been placed to keep out infiltrators.

On the Y-shaped pillar is a rudimentary alarm system (hooters, floodlights) that’s activated whenever there’s any intrusion. There’s an Army post every 250 metres.

On major ingress routes, the Army has also deployed passive unattended ground sensors (UGS) that detect any movement and alert the nearest surveillance post by giving a printout detailing time and place of intrusion.

But this year, heavy snowfall in the Shamshabari ranges ensured that snow accumulated in the Y-shape and brought down the pillar. Even the concertina wires were flattened in the avalanches.

As soon as the snow melted in the higher reaches last month, large groups of militants, primarily from Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, crossed the LoC from Chakwali to Kaobal Gali and the Kanzalwan area.

The militants have been digging beneath the fence, using rubber gloves and forked sticks to crawl below the barbed wires. As there are no sensors in the concertina wire rolls, these are snipped by militants who normally infiltrate between 4 am and 5 am. Once inside, the militants, helped by local guides, cross the mountains to enter the Valley via Sonamarg or Bandipura.

The Army now wants to replace the 26 kg Y-shaped pillar with a swan shaped pillar to ensure that snow slides down. After infiltration increased along the Gurez-Kanzalwan axis, it has been decided that additional vertical barbed wires, grouted to the ground, will be put on the main pillar together with bungees or iron spikes between the three pillars. The swan shaped pillars will be placed on the Shamshabari ridgelines.

In effect, the fencing along the Kishenganga will become the second line of defence in this area. While Army officials say that the LoC fencing acts as a deterrent, they point out that there have been desperate attempts to infiltrate even in broad daylight.

—(Tomorrow: Car bomb, the Iraq model)