CHANDIGARH: In a first in the country, Radioactive Detection Equipment (RDE) has been installed at the Integrated Check-Post (ICP) at Attari border with Pakistan. All trucks coming from Afghanistan carrying dry fruits, onions and garlic are scanned with each vehicle taking up to three minutes for a radioactive scan.
The equipment is being installed at seven other ICPs across the country. A senior official of the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) at the Attari ICP said the RDE has started scanning around 50 vehicles in a drive-through monitoring station. “The RDE is a full-body truck scanner and it is basically an X-ray of a truck to detect smuggling of radioactive material,’’ he said.
A server room, has been set up which controls the RDE at the ICP. It is currently operated by LPAI officials. Later, the BSF will take it over. “We plan to conduct an extensive training programme after RDEs are installed at eight ICPs,’’ the official said, adding that a similar device is also installed at Raxaul along the Nepal border.
Sources said the RDE is also being installed at seven ICPs in Moreh along the Myanmar border and Petrapole, Agartala, Dawki and Sutarkandi along the Bangladesh border. Last year, the Central government had given the contract to a vendor for supplying, installing and maintaining the RDE at these ICPs.