BSF officers provoded training in remote sensing

New Delhi, Mar 6 (UNI) About 20 Border Security Force (BSF) officers will soon be making use of remote sensing and digital technologies in counter-terrorism operations and to improve intelligence.

BSF Director General A K Mitra said the officers were provided two-week training on ''Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technology'' by the Centre for Disaster Management Studies under the aegis of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.

''Remote sensing and satellite technologies have become essential part of security world wide particularly in the field of defence and security,'' he said.

''India is a huge country sharing more than 14000 km of border with six neighbours. Most of the border areas are inhospitable terrain like the ice-capped mountains of Himalayas or swift rivulets. Infiltration along these borders, if they are left inadequately attended, becomes easy,'' he pointed out.

The objective of the training on use of satellite imaging and digital data is to put forward a suggestion on how border management can be improved and automated.

Mr Mitra said for border surveillance persistent coverage over previously exposed areas was required.

''The large amounts of data generated can make sense only if automation is achieved to a certain level in processing it and in identification of possible areas of intrusion. Towards this end we need to equip BSF with positioning systems like Global Positioning System (GPS) and feed the data real time into GIS." The BSF DG said developments in remote sensing, GIS and GPS, can be be fully exploited to safeguard the borders.

UNI