To stop rampant infiltration via porus Indo-Bangladesh border, BSF invokes ‘bee warriors’

Infiltrators and smugglers who are eyeing crossing into India through the porus Bangladesh border may soon be in for a rude shock translating into stinging boils and swollen faces if they attempt to get into the country illegally. The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched a combined scheme of beekeeping and medicinal plant cultivation as a pilot project along the Indo-Bangladesh border. As part of this new initiative, bee boxes will be installed along the fencing, keeping them positioned slightly above the ground. Some flowering plants will be planted around the boxes and a natural habitat created by arranging shade over the boxes. “It is expected that these bees will act as ‘bee warriors’ to prevent intruders and smugglers from cutting the fence. By attacking them, they will play an important role in preventing the fence from being cut,” a senior BSF official said. The scheme will benefit residents of border villages by creating new employment opportunities like beekeeping and cultivation of various types of medicinal plants for example like black tulsi, ekangi, aloe vera, satmuli and ashwagandha. Villagers in adjoining villages have also been trained about the benefits of honey bee farming and cultivation of medicinal plants. BSF’s latest initiative borrows from the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ of the government being undertaken in villages bordering China, so that residents feel a sense of “belonging to India and help strengthen the intelligence network on the ground”. “BSF is working towards making the border fencing more effective by completely securing it along the India-Bangladesh border from Bangladeshi infiltrators and smugglers, and ensuring overall development of the people of the border villages by creating new employment opportunities for them,” the officer said. BSF officers said the dense forests on both sides of the border and intensive farming will continue to provide adequate food to the bees. The cultivation of mustard and flowering plants will also plants will also provide adequate food to the bees.