The USA-Mexico border has recently been in the news due to an alternative proposal for border security, the Smart Wall. This innovative approach involves the use of advanced surveillance technology and aims to replace physical and armed patrolling. The notion was brought forward after the USA declared a national emergency in 2019 to fund a physical border wall, citing an “invasion” of drugs and criminals from Mexico.
Defining the Smart Wall
The Smart Wall isn’t just a single entity but a consortium of discrete technologies designed to prevent illegal entry, smuggling, and other threats posed by a porous border. Technologies include drones, scanners, and sensors, together forming a technological barrier too high to climb over, too wide to circumvent, and too deep to burrow under. Internet-of-things (IoT) technologies, such as in-ground sensors, security cameras, and software solutions, offer enhanced situational awareness to border officials, thereby aiding in preventing illicit activities.
The Benefits of the Smart Wall
A Smart Wall brings several advantages including reduced cost and deployment time, lower maintenance costs, decreased environmental concerns, optimal usage in different terrains, and lesser land requirements. Unlike a physical wall, a smart wall allows border security to adjust tactics continuously according to changing circumstances. Ground sensors and other IoT devices can be deployed and updated quickly and relatively inexpensively, requiring only a fraction of the costs to maintain.
Overcoming Environmental and Terrain Concerns
Smart walls create minimal environmental disturbance, allowing wildlife and rainwater to pass freely while also differentiating between humans and animals. They provide enhanced surveillance across vast and rough terrains where patrol is difficult. Real-time alerts facilitate swift response to approaching immigrants or lost hikers.
Reduced Land Seizure
Smart Wall technologies, being small and non-invasive, would require fewer land seizures, an essential point considering the construction of a physical wall would involve seizing property from local landowners.
Smart Wall in India
The rugged and often indistinct terrain along Indian borders necessitates the consideration of Smart Wall. Even if not applicable to India’s extended boundaries, such systems could enhance the country’s critical security establishments and complement existing physical fencing. The Indian armed forces must equip themselves with the latest technological advantages to effectively counter border infiltration.
Smart Fencing in India
Two pilot projects covering 71 Kms on the Indo-Pakistan Border (10 Kms) and Indo-Bangladesh Border (61 Kms) under Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) have been completed. The CIBMS deploys a multitude of state-of-the-art surveillance technologies, and a command and control system that receives data from all surveillance devices in real time. The Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique (BOLD-QIT) under CIBMS on the Indo-Bangladesh border in Dhubri district of Assam is also in use.
