Govt set to upgrade LoC trade infra, install full-body scanners
Government of India is set to upgrade the infrastructure and install full-body scanner at the Uri-Salamabad trading point to increase the volume of cross-LoC trade.
According to officials of the Industries and Commerce department, besides setting up of additional infrastructure by constructing godowns for stocking of tradable items and waiting area for the LoC travelers, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the proposal to install full-body scanner at the LoC point.
Officials said that after the formal inspection of the Uri-Salamabad trading point by a team of MHA recently, they have approved the installation of the full-body scanner at the trading point. The cost of the scanner is around Rs 68 crore, a senior government official said.“MHA has floated the bid for installation of full-body scanner and some of the vendors have already visited the spot to assess the requirement,” said a senior government official.
He added that the MHA clearance was required in the case to assess whether the trade will become vulnerable to militant attacks.
“After the MHA team has given a green-signal, one of the vendors visited the vendors visited the cross-LoC trading point only two days back to assess the feasibility,” said a senior government official.
Custodian cross-LoC trade, Farooq Ahmad Shah said the bids will close by this month and “we are expecting that the full body scanner will be installed shortly”.
Officials said the full-body scanner will ease checking of the vehicles at the trading point “and ensure that the checking arrangements are fool-proof”.
“The requirement for the full-body scanner has been felt after the haul of narcotics substances made earlier on the LoC trading point,” said an official.
According to officials, the government is also looking at the possibility of increasing the volume of the trade at the trading point. “Once the number of trucks allowed for the LoC trade increases the security apparatus has also to be strengthened. It is in view of this that full-body scanner is being installed,” he added.
Currently there are some 50 trucks that ply on both the sides of LoC in a day and the number is expected to increase in the coming months, officials said.
“It is for this reason that we need to increase the staff and the infrastructure for the smooth trade,” he added.
