Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs revealed that most of the soldiers guarding the Himalayan frontier do not have access to clean drinking water and are dependent on polluted sources. Only 18 percent of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Force’s Border Outposts (BoP) have access to potable water from pipelines or bore wells.
Pointing out that clean drinking water is a fundamental right of every person, the committee has asked the ITBP to make proper provisions for clean and safe drinking water at all BoPs immediately and submit a special report in this regard within six months. The committee also found that only 24 percent of the BoPs have regular electricity supply while the remaining 76 percent are dependent on generators that generally run for 1-2 hours in the morning and 3-4 hours in the evening.
The ITBP has 176 BoPs located at altitudes ranging from 9,000-18,750 ft. The 89,000 strong force has 32 out of its 56 service battalions deployed on border guarding duties in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. The remaining battalions are on internal security and anti-Naxal duties or are rotated for rest and recuperation.
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