"OPS ALERT" EXERCISE - DEFENCE AND SECURITY

News: BSF conducts 'Ops Alert' exercise ahead of Republic Day

 

What's in the news?

       The Border Security Force has started an "Ops Alert'' exercise to enhance security along the India-Pakistan border in Kutch district of Gujarat and Barmer in Rajasthan in view of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations.

 

Ops Alert Exercise:

       Conducted by - Border Security Force.

       Aim:

       Thwart any ill designs of anti-national elements during the Republic Day celebrations.

       Period: January 21 to January 28.

 

Features:

       The BSF will carry out special operations in forward and depth areas as well as creeks and 'Harami Nalla' as part of the exercise.

       It has also planned public outreach programmes as part of the exercise.

 

Go back to basics:

       The Indo-Pak border along Kutch in Gujarat is sensitive in view of a number of Pakistani nationals having been apprehended in the past after entering the Indian waters while moving on boats to catch fish.

       According to official data, the BSF apprehended 22 Pakistani fishermen, seized 79 fishing boats and heroin worth ₹250 crore and charas worth ₹2.49 crore from this region of Gujarat in 2022.

       To enhance its security, "permanent vertical bunkers" of concrete are being constructed for the first time to station BSF troops right at the strategically significant Sir Creek and Harami Nalla marshy area.

       The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned a ₹50-crore fund for the construction of eight multi-storey bunkers cum observation posts in this area along the Bhuj sector in view of the “constant infiltration of Pakistani fishermen and fishing boats in the area".