Srinagar, Apr 8: The cross-LoC trade is again landed into trouble. This time it is the Army deployed at the Kaman Post which is allegedly putting spanners into the trade.
 Sources at the Trade Facilitation Centre Salamabad, Uri, told Greater Kashmir that the Army commanders had asked them to restrict the number of trucks carrying merchandise for export to AJK, and finish the requisite formalities related to trade by 4 PM on the trading day.
 They, however, said that both the directives (restricting the number of trucks and finishing other formalities by 4 PM on the trading day) were against the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
 “We have received a letter from Lieutenant Riyaz, OC Kaman Post, 4th battalion, Jat Regiment, wherein we have been asked to let the trucks cross the Kaman Post before 4 PM, whereas as per the SOP, trucks should cross between 4 PM to 6 PM,” said Muhammad Ashraf Wani, custodian officer for cross-LoC trade at TFC Salamabad and general manager DIC Varmul.
 He confirmed that the Army had asked them to decrease the number of trucks dispatching goods to AJK. “They also told us on phone that we should not send more than 40 trucks in a day,” he added.
 Wani, however, said there was no mention of the number of trucks in the SOP. “After receiving the instructions from the Army we are in a fix. We fail to understand whether we should follow the directives of the Army at the Kaman Post or the SOP,” he said.
 He said although at one point of time it was decided at the state level that only 50 trucks shall be dispatched to AJK in a week, “that was not agreed upon by the AJK traders.”
 He said the volume of the trade was increasing considerably. “Of 124 trucks that had reached the TFC Salamabad on Monday, we could dispatch only 62 trucks to AJK on Tuesday, and the rest were dispatched the next day only, when as per rules we had to dispatch all the trucks on the same day,” he said, adding that there was no mention of the number of trucks anywhere in the SOP.
 The Army, he said, was supposed to facilitate the TFC officials at the Kaman Post, “but they are now creating hindrances for us.”
 Wani said the matter had been taken seriously by various agencies associated with the trade.
 Meanwhile, he said, Rs 10.14 crore goods were traded between two sides this week. He said 124 trucks carrying 8751.52 quintals of goods were exported to AJK. The consignments were valuing Rs 3.60 crore. Almost 80 per cent of the consignments were onions, whereas dry pepper, cardamom and fresh fruits were among the other items, he said.
 Meanwhile, goods worth Rs 6.54 crore were imported in 115 trucks from AJK. The goods were weighing 9192 quintals. This week also only Pakistani moong dal (green gram) was imported from AJK, officials said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 8 Apr 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 8 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 9 Apr 2010 00:00:00 IST