Sources in the BSF said the water came from Pakistan's Sim Nala, a 25 feet wide and 12 feet deep canal connected to the Sukkar and Kotadi barrages on the Indus in the Sind province. They said this was no irrigation canal but one built with Chinese help as a strategic device: by releasing water from the barrages, all the BSF posts in the Rann can be inundated, since they are downstream.

Irrigation could hardly have been on the Pakistan government's mind because nothing grows on the saline soil of the uninhabited region. Even then the canal was built, spending lakhs of rupees over ten years. A Chinese expert was put up at Kadhan village, just 50 km northwest of India's Sardar post in the Rann.

The water is posing problems for the BSF. Pakistan's Border Rangers have neverworried about the region, and have rarely taken part in joint patrolling with the BSF. But the BSF now finds it unable to do so.

A BSF officer said, ``They are hardly worried about patrolling, they rarely come to check the pillars marking out the border. Why should they? For their main assignment is to see there is maximum infiltration of their men into India to carry out nefarious activities.''

The BSF and the Indian Army had marched deep into Sind during the 1971 war, when there was no water in the way. While the flooding of the Indian side of the Rann in the Kutch sector continues to be a threat from Pakistan, the Indian government is yet to take any counter measures.

The neglect by both the Centre and the state can be seen at the BSF outposts. They are few, and lie at great distances from each other. Only seven outposts line the 154 km long route from India Bridge (the last point where civilians are allowed) to the outermost Sardar post. And all these posts are together manned by 100-odd BSF men,whereas in Punjab and Kashmir there are 30 men to a post.

Living conditions in the outposts are bad: no fresh drinking water, no lights, and no pucca roads. The harshness of the salt-laden high velocity winds tells on the weather-beaten faces of the men who hold fort here. The region is infested with poisonous insects, and deadly snakes including the black cobra.

The words of a BSF officer say it all: ``I'm from Kashmir, which is considered the worst border posting, because of insurgency there. But I find that the Kutch border is even worse, after living here for a year. While special allowances are paid in other better regions, it is denied here.''