Siachen and Kargil
Why not dominate with smart technology ?

By Maj Gen V K Madhok (retired)

As the President Abdul Kalamex Scientific Advisor to the Raksha Mantri who headed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) visited Siachen towards early Apr 2004, a number of issues concerning high altitude battle fields need reflection. Can the scientists replace or reduce manpower deployment with smart technology? If so, to what extent? How would the concept look on ground, say in the case of Siachen ?

So far, the Siachen Glacier was the world's highest battlefield. Now the area of strife includes Kargil and its adjoining areas where, to avoid being surprised, surveillance is necessary around the year.

Currently, India deploys 5,000 to 6,000 troops annually at Siachen in the most trying conditions. The 75 Km deployment, 80 Kms from the nearest roadhead, costs the exchequer nearly 1,000 crore a year- Rs 2 to Rs 3 crore per day. The deployment results in upto 1000 casualities both severe and mild, in a year, and this in peace time. Since 1984, nearly 500 officers and men have been killed and 10,000 injurd at Siachen. Further, fresh deployments in Drass, Kargil, Batalik and Kaksar on a 140 Km frontage need an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 troops with a massive logistic tail. This costs Rs 3 to Rs 5 crore a day, in addition to casualities due to inhospitable terrain and weather.

Yet, India cannot afford to let these strategically important areas, overlooking northern areas of Pakistan and Karakoram Pass be used by any hostile power. Also, it would be naive to believe that any amicable solution will be reached to resolve the dispute in the near future. As such, to avoid wastage of manpower, there is a need to explore how technology can help, particularly during peace time for surveillance and then destroying the intruding targets. Today, the US is in the process of conducting trials to construct an international space station before setting out to establish a base on the Moon between the years 2007 and 2010. While India with its third largest pool of scientists and technical manpower in the world may not be in a position to reach the Moon, it can certainly embark on an innovative mission to convert Kargil and Siachen areas into a technological battlefield, provided politicians, scientists and the military have the will and vision!

What about the road map towards such a concept? The DRDO in consultation with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Army Training Command, its War College and the Indian Air Force (IAF), are in a position to dominate Kargil and Siachen with technology and fire power instead of manpower. To do so, two requirements need to be met: 24 hour surveillance and vigilance capability for early warning as well as identification of intrusions and targets alongwith an ability to hit located targets from ground and air with precision guided munitions.

To ensure surveillance and continuous updating, what is required are remote piloted vehicles (RPVs) and unmanned aircraft (UMA). A variety of RPVs are in use today all over the world. As a reaction to a Pakistan RPV intrusion in Bhuj in Jan 1997, India purchased Hunter and Seeker RPVs from Israel at a cost of Rs 100 crore in 1998. Also, needed are satellites. Today, ISRO has the capability of launching a spy satellite of the SPOT variety, which is operated by France and from whom India purchases information anyway. Now that cryogenic engines have been received from Russia and are likely to be manufactured indigenously, ISRO will launch geosynchronous satellites. In addition, remote sensing satellites which are already up, are in a position to provide a great deal of useful information about Kargil, Siachen and the surrounding areas.

In addition to the above, signal intelligence and interception, including all that can be got from friendly countries, would need to be coordinated and fed to an operational headquarters at Srinagar or Ladakh. The scope for adding on to the above information is wide if we consider what can be obtained and supplemented by the IAF, the Army Aviation Corps and the Research and Analysis Wing. As regards the ability to hit intruding targets or a group of targets which have already intruded, technology can provide a variety of tools in addition to what we already have. That is, RPVs fitted with missiles (this is already happening in Europe and in the US) and guided by computers. Besides, artillery and mortars are extremely accurate at high altitudes due to negligible atmospheric interference. In addition, helicopters and gunships can be fitted with diverse arsenal, including short and long range missiles and seek and destroy ammunitions. It is visualised that Kargil and Siachen battlefields dominated with technology will have mines laid on sensitive approaches, while mines to be activated by remote control will be laid in depth areas.

The above will be in addition to an ability to lay mines from air or by artillery guns at extremely short notice. These methods have already been tried successfully abroad. Further, sensors would be laid in patterns to give early warning about intruders or paradrops, with satellites providing continuously updated information. Helicopter and plane sorties will also be used for reconnaisance, communication and photographic cover. This can be supplemented with consolidated intelligence data from embassies, interception and by other means.

Further, artillery and mortars suitably deployed with observation posts, complimented by RPV and UMA flights. In addition, an elite task force comprising two to three companies nearly 250 men, trained in mountaineering and skiing, suitable located at select bases, would be available for various contingency tasks. As it is, India is in the process of developing an air surveillance and control system (AWACS) of which a trial demonstration was given in Dec 1996 at Bangalore. Besides, in Dec 1995, DRDO had announced that it planned to use sensors at the border alongwith AWACS to detect infiltration. While in Apr 1997, at the civil defence exhibition at New Delhi, military technology demonstrations were given to identify and hit targets at long ranges with extreme accuracy. And now, India has signed a 1.2 billion dollar deal for acquiring Phalcon surveillance system which will be mounted on IL 76 Russian aircraft, with Israel.

While it may be a far off dream to manufacture a stealth aircraft or a space plane in another five years- as announced earlier, but with the already available high technology India has, any one appointed as commander of Kargil and Siachen defences should have sufficient means and resources to defend these areas without wasting manpower. If the US can take technology to space and on to the Moon, why cant our scientists do so at Kargil and Siachen in the next five years ?

Not by accident !

By Aarti

Each year road traffic injuries take the lives of 1.2 million men, women and children around the world and seriously injuring millions more.

* World Health Organisation

Road accidents cause an estimated 1.17 million deaths annually besides crippling or injuring over 10 million. About 70 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries and sixty-five percent of them involve pedestrians, 35 percent of such victims being children. That at least 6 million more will die and 60 million will be injured during the next 10 years in developing countries indicates that the alarm bells are ringing. Even in advanced countries, where infrastructure is very rarely the cause of mishaps, untrained drivers are largely responsible for 95 per cent of the accidents.

"Road safety is no accident" - this year’s World Health Day’s theme (observed around the globe annually every 7th April) will focus on the grave consequences and the enormous cost arising out of traffic injuries to the society. Since 1974, after the WHO passed a resolution to address the growing problem of road traffic collisions and their health consequences, a number of initiatives have been undertaken to integrate road traffic injuries (RTIs) prevention into public health programmes around the world.

RTIs, a rapidly growing problem, have been found to be the 10th leading cause of all deaths (accounting for 2.2 per cent all deaths) and the 9th leading contributor to the burden of disease worldwide. Road accidents account of 70 million hospital in-patient days and the economic costs of such injuries are enormous (approximately US$ 65 billion every year). It roughly accounts for twice the total development assistance received by developing countries across the world. According to the World Bank, road crashes cost approximately 1 to 3 percent of a country's annual Gross National Product (GNP) and developing countries currently lose $100 billion every year.

Of the lakhs of people who die in road accidents world over each year, about 10 per cent are killed in India. Likewise, the country accounts for nearly 5 per cent of the 23-24 million seriously injured in road mishaps. Recent statistics complied by the Loss Prevention Association of India indicates that over 85,000 road fatalities are reported in the country every year, making it the most dangerous nation to drive in. Most of those killed are in the 15-44 age group and nearly 1,30,000 are crippled for life. A two-wheeler rider is five times more prone to accident as compared to a person in a four-wheeler and there are close to 3,39,13,000 two wheelers registered in India, which account for nearly 70 per cent of the total motor vehicles registered in the country. Most of the fatalities in two wheeler accidents result from the pillion rider being thrown off the vehicle, resulting in grievous head injuries. It is estimated that 9 percent of survivors of serious accidents (one in three children) develop significant post-traumatic stress symptoms that can become chronic. Such individuals have been found to experience disabling memories and anxiety related to the traumatic event. More pedestrians have been apparently losing their lives in part due to the heterogeneity of traffic and more on account of poor traffic management.

Despite existence of comprehensive laws, time and again a number of measures have been taken by the Supreme Court to tighten road safety. Most importantly the November 1997 Wazirabad tragedy, which killed 30 school children in Delhi, prompted the apex court to lay down some basic requirements for school buses. While the drivers had to possess at least 10 years of driving experience, installation of speed governors to limit the speed to 40 kmph was made compulsory. To enforce these recommendations, the concerned district administration was ordered to deploy flying squads headed by a sub-divisional magistrate.

The cause for concern is that in many cities like Delhi, accidents seem to be happening with increased frequency. A major cause of fatal accidents is the mindless competition on the roads by inexperienced/rash drivers of public transport vehicles to garner a larger share of commuter traffic. It is not uncommon to find many drivers; particularly even those involved in big offences/fatal accidents continuing to drive commercial vehicles in our metros after getting out on bail even when a driver’s licence gets cancelled for causing a fatal accident. By registering a non-cognizable FIR with a fake identity having lost the licence several drivers are able to be on the road again.

On an average, 76 per cent of accidents have been found to cause injury and 20 per cent are fatal. That for over the past two years, in more than 35 per cent of fatal accidents, the killer vehicle could not be identified speaks volumes of the chaos on roads. It also shows the deep levels of corruption plus the lack of political will to root out systemic problems. Aggressive driving, tailgating, dangerous driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, over-speeding are some of the very common violations which are on the increase. According to a Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) assessment, almost 40 per cent of accidents and 48 per cent of deaths occur on national highways. In urban areas, 75 per cent of road fatalities involve pedestrians (including homeless, pavement sleepers) and bicyclists, almost all of who (mostly men below 45 years old) are poor. Though the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 makes use of helmet mandatory, failure of several state governments to enforce the law has resulted in more persons being killed or reaching hospitals.

Historically, neglect has been a major factor in recurrence of road traffic injuries. It is thus necessary to look beyond knee-jerk reactions because accidents are costly. The economic cost of a fatal and non-fatal accident is pegged at Rs 2 lakhs and Rs 1 lakh respectively and the total estimated cost of road accidents annually translates into a whopping Rs 55,000 crore. Research has shown road traffic injuries can be minimized to a large extent if road safety regulations are enforced religiously. Use of seat belts, helmets, improved vehicle/road design etc., have all proved effective at preventing these types of injuries. By improving emergency response services, deaths and disabilities caused by road traffic collisions can be prevented. The first few moments after the accident are very precious and crucial. Many lives can be saved and disabilities prevented by providing timely proper care essentially by providing immediate treatment to the victim of accident.

In creating a safe road network, efforts need to undertaken not only to fix potholes and cleaning drainage facilities, missing traffic signs, road markings, road safety audit ought to be institutionalised. Beyond just formulating safety guidelines, it ought to be actually implemented in the right earnest and not by accident!