Demolish all illegal structures within 15 km of International Border, Amit Shah says

📌 Summary:

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed authorities to strictly enforce a "zero-tolerance policy" against illegal structures within 15 km of the International Border (IB) and demolish them

• Directions issued during a high-level security review meeting in Bikaner covering five border districts of Rajasthan along the Indo-Pakistan Border (IPB): Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sri Ganganagar and Phalodi

• Attended by Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, senior state officials, District Magistrates and SPs of the five border districts

• "360-degree security framework" to be formulated for every border district — integrated approach involving local citizens, state government machinery and all security agencies for comprehensive border management

• Multi-agency coordinated framework announced for IB districts — involving: (1) Border Security Force (BSF) (2) Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) (3) Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) (4) State government to address infiltration, narcotics smuggling, encroachment, terror financing and trans-border crimes

• District Magistrates' enhanced responsibilities: (a) ensure full legal and financial compliance by all banks (b) verify major business establishments (c) scrutinise funding sources (d) track mule accounts and shell companies (e) identify fake Aadhaar cards (f) prevent smuggling

• Drone-defence rollout: Shah said one day earlier in Bikaner that anti-drone systems will be deployed along the IB in the next six months in view of cross-border smuggling; BSF's traditional role to be re-examined "from a new dimension"

• Smart Border Project: Shah had announced last week that India will roll out a "Smart Border project" to make frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh "impenetrable" and eliminate illegal infiltration

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — Internal Security (Border Management, multi-agency coordination, drone threats), Money laundering (mule accounts, shell companies, terror financing tracking); GS2 — Centre-state coordination, statutory bodies (BSF, CBDT, NCB).

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Indo-Pakistan border length: 3,323 km; runs through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and J&K
• Five Rajasthan border districts cited: Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sri Ganganagar, Phalodi
• Agencies in the new IB framework: BSF, CBDT, NCB and state government
• BSF (Border Security Force): primary border-guarding force on Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangladesh borders; under Ministry of Home Affairs; raised in 1965
• NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau): nodal drug-enforcement agency under MHA, set up in 1986 under the NDPS Act, 1985
• CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes): statutory body under Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963
• Anti-drone system rollout horizon: 6 months
• "Smart Border Project": planned for Pakistan and Bangladesh borders

🔑 Key Term: Smart Border / 360-degree border management — an integrated security framework combining physical infrastructure (smart fencing, anti-drone systems, CCTV, motion sensors), multi-agency intelligence sharing (BSF + NCB + CBDT + state police), and financial-flow tracking (mule accounts, shell companies, fake Aadhaar) to deter infiltration, narcotics, smuggling and terror financing.