New Delhi : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday to inaugurate two pilot projects of “smart” border fencing built under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) programme.

He will also visit the forward areas near the International Border (IB) in Jammu.

“Leaving for Jammu on a day long visit. Shall inaugurate two pilot under CIBMS in Jammu sector and also visit the forward areas near the International Border,” the Minister tweeted before his departure.

The two projects, each covering a 5.5 km-border stretch along the IB in Jammu, are set to get a first-of-a-kind high-tech surveillance system that will create an invisible electronic barrier on land, water and even in air and underground, helping the Border Security Force (BSF) detect and foil infiltration bids in the most difficult terrains.

CIBMS involves deployment of a range of state-of-the-art surveillance technologies — thermal imagers, infra-red and laser-based intruder alarms that form an invisible land fence, aerostats for aerial surveillance, unattended ground sensors that can help detect intrusion bids through tunnels, radars, sonar systems to secure riverine borders, fibre-optic sensors and a command and control system that shall receive data from all surveillance device in real time.

The programme is a more robust border management system which is seamlessly integrating modern technology with human resource, a Home Ministry official said.

“Based on integrated border management system, this virtual fence would be first of its kind initiative in India,” said the official.

The officer said the CIBMS is designed to guard stretches where physical surveillance is not possible either due to inhospitable terrain or riverine borders.

—IANS