Chidambaram to lay foundation stone of ICP at Attari tomorrow

New Delhi, Feb 19 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will lay the foundation stone for the construction of an Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari, Amritsar, tomorrow.

The setting up of ICP along India's international border is a major imitative, which the Government of India has taken as part of a plan scheme with an initial outlay of Rs.635 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan.

The Attari Integrated Check Post is the first ICP where construction is being undertaken. The estimated cost of the Project is Rs. 150 crore.

The Department of Border Management has finalized the detailed project reports for 13 ICPs to be set up on the borders between India and Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar.

The ICPs are envisaged to overcome the infrastructural bottlenecks at the various entry and exit points on the land borders of the country. They are expected to provide facilities for the effective and efficient discharge of sovereign functions such as security, immigration, customs, quarantine.

A Bill has been introduced in Parliament for the establishment of a Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), which has been envisaged as a statutory body for the planning, construction, maintenance and management of these ICPs.

The ICP at Attari, spread over nearly 130 acres of land, is expected to be completed by April 2011.

The salient features of the ICP are a modular design, dedicated lanes for each process, separate gates for traffic across the border, least traffic conflicts, self-evident routes, guide signage and administrative and facility area. (ANI)