BSF personnel keep vigil on the Indo-Bangladesh border. A file picture

Shillong, Dec. 1: In the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, the BSF is gearing up its Guwahati-based 128 battalion — the National Disaster Response Force — to tackle any emergency, apart from dealing with floods and earthquakes, for which the force was specially raised.

P.K. Mishra, inspector-general of the BSF’s Assam and Meghalaya frontier, said today that the force was procuring weapons, electronic gadgets and other equipment to tackle any exigency.

Mishra was speaking to mediapersons on the occasion of the BSF’s 44th raising day here today.

He said every battalion of the BSF would keep a platoon ready with weapons and vehicles for a well co-ordinated counter-attack to prevent the possibility of militants from Bangladesh sneaking into the Northeast.

“The BSF is prepared to tackle any attack from across the border and the platoon of the battalion will not take even an hour to respond to any emergency situation,” he added.

The inspector-general said the riverine routes — both in Assam and Meghalaya — need to be monitored strictly to check any movement of militants from across the border.

He said the BSF had asked the Centre to provide two hovercrafts and several medium-sized vessels, which could carry 20 persons each to monitor the riverine border along the Brahmaputra.

“We are also in the process of procuring more speedboats as the floating border outposts have turned out to be less effective in the context of recurring floods in Assam,” he added.

Elaborating on the constraints which the BSF jawans face along the border, Mishra said along the entire Assam-Meghalaya border, only 40 per cent fencing work had been completed.

He said that floodlights in the border areas are yet to be set up, making it difficult for the BSF men to detect criminals who sneak in at night.

He also said both the BSF and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) would jointly patrol the vulnerable areas along the border.

Mishra said rampant smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh had become a cause for concern as very often several fences along the border are destroyed when the cattle are pushed through them after smugglers cut the fencing.

“The breaches in the border fencing may also facilitate the illegal entry of militants and migrants,’ he said.

“Cattle smuggling has become a disease and the transaction amounts can go up to crores of rupees”, Mishra said.