Have you ever came across movie scenes in which lasers are put up so that intruders can be detected as soon as they come in its contact? Well, brace yourself for something interesting.
This is happening for real along the Indo-Pak border.
Following the Pathankot attack, about a dozen “laser walls” have been installed along the India-Pakistan international border in Punjab to tackle the unsuitable terrain and keep an eye against intruders and terrorists who try to cross over the Indian side. The functioning of these “laser walls” is being monitored through a satellite-based signal command system and armed with night and fog operability tools.
According to reports, while eight infra-red and laser beam intrusion detection systems are “up and working” at the international border near Punjab, four more will be operationalised in the next few days.
Back to Physics, a laser wall is a mechanism to detect objects which pass through the line of sight between the laser source and the detector. A laser beam over a river sets off a loud siren in case of a breach.
The “laser walls” are being monitored by the BSF. The decision to install these was taken by the BSF two years ago as barbed wire fencing could not be installed in many infiltration prone areas due to the unsupportive terrain. It was only after the Pathankot terror attack,  the Union home ministry and BSF sped up the deployment and activation of these walls along the long and winding border suspecting that the terrorists had crossed over to the Indian side from here.
According to the PTI, 45 laser walls are being planned to be installed in the areas along the international border in Punjab and Jammu and a blueprint is also prepared in this regard according to which the BSF will utilize this technology to conduct pilot project to pick up suspected movements along the international border.
Apart from these, four similar pilot projects are being taken up along the IB in Jammu, Gujrat and West Bengal in stretches of 30-40 kms, work on which will begin by next month.
Pathankot attack was an eye opener for the BSF as more than 1000 additional men have been deployed in the Punjab sector to increase ambush operations and patrolling in the area.
Lets just hope that India is always prepared to tackle situations like this in the future, unlike doing it after the terror strikes.
