No integrated check-post at Aryankavu now: Babu

Says Excise personnel should operate with available facilities

CRUDE METHODS: Excise personnel at the Aryankavu check-post use an iron rod to find whether spirit is hidden inside a truck. Photo: C. Suresh Kumar

There is no immediate move to modernise the Aryankavu Excise check-post, Excise Minister K. Babu told The Hindu over phone on Tuesday.

The modernisation of the check post, for various reasons, was a difficult proposition now, he said.

An integrated check post at Aryankavu is out of question. The former Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac had strived for it but the efforts went in vain, Mr. Babu said. The Excise personnel posted there should effectively operate with available facilities, the Minister said.

The physical examination of vehicles by the Excise staff at the check-post had been causing hold-ups, sources said. When asked about utilising the 2.5 acre of land near the check-post to create a separate checking yard, the Minister said it would not materialise in six months.

Excise personnel posted at the check-post said, in spite of being one of the biggest border check-posts in the State, the entire complex functioned at a congested place.

Following the seizure of a huge quantity of spirit at Mavelikara from a lorry which passed through the check-post during Onam season, four personnel who had cleared the entry of the vehicle were suspended. Checking had been intensified since then, sources said. Excise personnel said they were mandated to physically examining all vehicles entering the State through the check-post. In many cases, huge consignments had to be unloaded to ensure that spirit was not being smuggled in, they said. This exercise had been creating traffic snarls. There were allegations that the staff posted there were resorting to go-slow tactics following the suspension of personnel. On Monday, K.N. Balagopal, MP, inaugurated an dharna at the check-post. The protesters demanded the creation of a checking yard.

Excise personnel said the only instrument provided to examine consignments were iron rods. This is used to pierce the load, usually in sacks. But this may not work for all consignments, they said.

The check-post functioned from a room of a building owned by the Commercial Taxes Department and there were no toilet facilities, sources said.