Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, January 23

A team of Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) today visited Dera Baba Nanak to work out the modalities for constructing the integrated check post (ICP) on the Indian side of the Kartarpur corridor and decided to acquire 50 acres for it.

The LPAI team, comprising its chairman Anil Kumar Bamba and special secretary BR Sharma, held three-hour deliberations with Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal, Dera Baba Nanak Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ashok Sharma, Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman and officials of the BSF, Customs, Immigration, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the PWD.

The SDM, the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA), has issued a notification to acquire 24 hectares to construct the 4.25-km stretch from Dera Baba Nanak to the zero line.

“The decks have now been cleared for the ICP construction. It will have state-of-the-art infrastructure to facilitate travel of pilgrims. The LPAI will take over 50 acres,” DC Ujwal said. An official said residential quarters for employees of the ICP will also be constructed.

Cabinet Minister and Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “A 200-foot-wide and four-laned road is proposed to be laid across 24 hectares. Since the Pakistani government has completed 35 per cent work, the Centre should also release funds for construction works.”

An official said the amount of compensation to be given to farmers in lieu of land acquisition was yet to be worked out. “However, the average rate of land sold in the past three years will be taken into consideration. A 100 per cent solatium, an amount given in compensation for inconvenience, will be added to the average rate,” said the official.

Targeting the state government, a BJP leader said, “The LPAI team visit indicates that the NDA government is committed to completing the project before the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev (November this year).”

Integrated check post: A single-window facility 

Integrated check posts (ICPs) have been established at all major entry points on the country’s land borders. These house regulatory agencies such as immigration, customs and border security in a single complex which serves as a single-window facility as is prevalent at airports and seaports.