Drawing a line in the sand

‘‘The survey was conducted very cordially and with a purpose. If things go well, contentious issues on this part of the border could be settled amicably soon,’’ says Singh.

Based on the location and direction of these pillars, put up 81 years ago at a gap of 600 metre each, the border of the Sir Creek may be decided between the two countries after this survey.

Braving the heat, saw-scaled vipers and quagmires, Singh and another officer along with BSF jawans participated in the survey with teams from the Surveyor General’s office. The Pakistan survey team was accompanied by Pakistan Marines.

‘‘The pillars were put up in 1924 to mark the border between the erstwhile states of Kutch and Sindh. Over the years some of these pillars were buried under silt or washed away. It was quite a task locating them,’’ Singh says.

The survey was conducted from January 3 to 12 from pillar G 1 to G 45. Depending on the results of the survey, the border of Sir Creek may be decided between the two countries after this survey that ends in April.

STARTING from pillar number 1175 located some 30 km from the nearest border outpost near Lakhpat, the teams made their way towards the Sir Creek locating the pillars one by one.

‘‘It was a tedious task. Due to the marshy conditions, vehicles could not go there and much of the work was done walking,’’ says Murli Krishna, a Commandant. ‘‘The heat also took its toll and many personnel suffered sun burns. The most difficult part was wading through chest-deep waters into the mangroves to locate some of the pillars,’’ Krishna says.

Readings the pillars was not easy. According to officials, pillar number 1111, located 410 km from Sir Creek on the land border, was taken as the main coordinate and readings were taken based on it.

‘‘At some places when we began to take the readings the ground was dry but by the time the task was completed the tide had started coming in. The notes of the readings taken were exchnged by both sides while standing in knee deep water,’’ says constable Harish Singh.

When faced with a tricky situation, both parties would talk it out under the hot sun on the flat, dry salt-covered Rann that stretches endlessly.

WHILE the survey was done in an amiable environment, for the jawans it was a different experience.

‘‘An enemy always remains an enemy. Haven’t we all grown up on the history of three wars and Kargil experience recently? You are always on alert against them but suddenly here you are shaking hands and walking along with them doing an important task jointly. It was a different experience,’’ a jawan confides.

‘‘We would introduce ourselves…there would be some light banter during breaks but the topic would mostly be the weather,’’ says constable Abdul Sakar, who was evacuated from the border after a poisonous snake bite.

On the second day of the survey the ice began to thaw between the two sides and it was ‘samosas’ and tea from the BSF at Guneri which did it.

‘‘Though the border is closer from the Pakistan side, the approach is very difficult. Their team had to walk a couple of hours and they had no way of bringing supplies and refreshments. On the second day we started a full-fledged canteen at Guneri border outpost. After gruelling hours in the Rann, the breaks were always welcome,’’ says Singh.

When the survey moved nearer to Sir Creek, the BSF’s ‘wet canteen’ at Koteshwar provided the supplies and a BSF floating outpost was converted into an administration post.

At the end of each day, both sides would feed their data into laptops aitting in a tent put up by the BSF.

And as soon as their bit of the survey was complete, BSF officers and jawans were back to their work—patrolling the border.