As part of the Union Home Ministry's strategy to secure the country's borders, over 500 additional Border Out Posts (BOPs) are set to be established at an estimated cost of over Rs 1,800 crore.

"The idea behind setting up of 509 additional BOPs is to reduce inter-BOP distance along the 4,097 km Indo-Bangladesh and 3,323 km Indo-Pakistan borders," a senior official told PTI in New Delhi.

While 383 BOPs will be set up along the Indo-Bangladesh border, the remaining will be created along the Indo-Pakistan border to maintain close vigil on the international boundaries, he said.

At present there are 802 BOPs on the Indo-Bangladesh border and 609 BOPs on the Indo-Pakistan border.

Besides, in order to provide better connectivity to BOPs along the 1,751 km Indo-Nepal border and 699 km Indo-Bhutan border, the Home Ministry proposes to undertake construction of about 1,400 km roads along the international boundaries passing through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.

Meanwhile, about 1,912 kms of fencing and 1,861 kms of floodlighting work have been completed on Indo-Pakistan border. "It has proved to be very effective in checking illegal cross-border activities," he said.

Similarly, fencing work on 2,590 km and construction of roads along 3,295 km have been completed on the Indo-Bangladesh border.

"The Government has also decided to provide floodlighting along the 2,840 km border passing through West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram and Tripura by 2011-12 at a cost of Rs 1,328 crore," he added.

Fencing along certain stretches on the Indo-Bangladesh border has been delayed because of Dhaka's objection to construction work within 150 yards of the international border.

Noting that it is not possible to strictly follow Bangladesh's suggestions on the issue, New Delhi has sought Dhaka's permission to allow construction work even within 15 yards of its ambit.

On the issue of construction of border fence within 150 yards of international border, Bangladesh side has said that the matter will be further examined during joint visits to the vulnerable sections of the border.

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on its part has requested Border Security Force (BSF) to take the responsibility of maintaining boundary pillars which is now done by the respective state governments.

Sources said with rains damaging the boundary pillars in certain stretches, India and Bangladesh have agreed to set up 20-ft high all-weather special poles on the international boundary, as part of a unanimous decision to demarcate the border.

As per an understanding reached at the recent BSF-BDR talks, both the border forces would look after the maintenance of the boundary pillars.

Both BSF and BDR have also agreed to carry out joint patrolling in the areas which are vulnerable to trans-border crime as it was physically not possible to guard every inch of Indo-Bangla border.

At the recent Home Secretary-level talks in Dhaka, both sides agreed to ensure peace and tranquillity along the border keeping in mind relevant provisions of the Joint Border Management Guidelines of 1975. The two sides are concerned over smuggling of arms, ammunitions, explosives and fake currency notes.