In a major revamp of the security system on the Indo-Pak border in Punjab, Border Security Force have almost completed fencing of 553 km of the frontier and have installed human sensing sensors and other surveillance gadgets to guard against infiltration.

The move to equip BSF personnel with force multipliers like the hand held thermal imagers and CCTVs is on the pattern adopted in Jammu and Kashmir along the Line of Control.

Though insurgency in Punjab is on the wane, BSF officials said the security revamp was being undertaken to guard against all sorts of infiltration, including movement by narcotic and arms smugglers.

"The border is a zero tolerence zone. The induction of the new devices will help us to better the border domination activity," DIG (Intelligence), BSF, K Srinivasan said.

Special Director General N P S Aulakh said the devices were primarily procured to effectively check the menace of smuggling, be it narcotics or counterfeit currency. BSF, he added, believed in changes as and when required.

"Smuggling of narcotics, counterfeit currency and also arms, at times, was the main concern areas for BSF here. The present scenario demanded that we procure modern equipment to help our jawans increase their efficiency and at the same time, reduce work-related stress," he said.

In 2006, 162 persons were apprehended for trying to cross the border from both sides, which also included a LeT militant and two Bangladeshi nationals. BSF also confiscated 69 kg of heroin, he said.

Another device -- the battle field surveillance radar -- was also being inducted as a part of the police modernisation programme, Srinivasan added.

Since the Punjab frontier has a strong agricultural community residing near the border, on one hand, care has to be taken to ensure their safety, while on the other, jawans have to be alert, officials said.

"Even a tractor is checked before we allow it to enter through the check gate. However, we also have to secure the border population," an officer at the border said.

As the BSF undertakes a long-term plan to install border management-friendly devices, another task in hand is to carry forward the fencing operation on its other frontiers, especially the north-east and introduce sensors and devices at other borders.

"We are looking forward to the definite use of the devices at the frontier," Inspector General, Tripura, S K Dutta said.

The process of fencing the frontier is difficult as it is an undulating terrain and the population lives almost on the zero-line, he added.

"Infiltration is the biggest threat today. The devices can help us tackle the problem," Dutta said.

Cattle smuggling was another key area of concern for the forces at the Eastern frontiers, Srinivasan said.

Similar intentions were echoed by the Inspector General, Gujarat, Rajinder Singh. "Topographic differences notwithstanding, we intend to install the devices at the Western frontiers too," he said.

The frontier faced the menace of exfiltration, which had to be checked as quickly as possible, he added.

The BSF was looking at a long-term plan to induct new-age border surveillance devices to ensure that its men can intelligently manage the frontiers, Srinivasan said.