Damaged fencing fixed by BSF in J&K, work 95% complete in Punjab

Over 90 days after torrential rains ravaged northern India and washed away stretches of border fencing in the Jammu and Punjab sectors, the Border Security Force (BSF) has almost completed restoration work along the frontier.

Top BSF officials told The Tribune that fencing work in Jammu has been fully restored, while in Punjab it is about 95 per cent complete.

“As of now, fencing along the Pakistan border has been put back in place. Permanent civil repair work on border outposts will be completed gradually,” a senior BSF official said, adding that the restored fencing is “up to the mark” to prevent infiltration.

Heavy rains between late August and mid-September had flooded around 100 km of border areas along Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir — 30 km in Jammu and 70 km in Gurdaspur and Ferozepur sectors of Punjab — where fences were either washed away or bent.

While restoration in higher reaches of Jammu and around RS Pura was completed a month ago, progress in Punjab was delayed as floodwaters persisted until the end of September, despite the rains stopping earlier in the month.

Interestingly, officials said the floods had an unintended benefit — several underground tunnels used for infiltration were flooded, leading to a sharp decline in cross-border intrusion attempts.

However, smuggling incidents continued despite the flooding.

On September 11, the BSF arrested two arms smugglers near Fazilka and seized 27 pistols, 54 magazines and 470 live rounds. On September 12, a joint BSF-Fazilka CIA operation led to the recovery of 16 pistols, 38 magazines, 1,847 rounds and a motorcycle.

On September 21, the BSF and Punjab Police nabbed four smugglers near Gurdaspur with 10 kg of heroin. All these incidents occurred even as large parts of the India-Pakistan border remained submerged under floodwaters.