DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave the nod to purchase an anti-drone system at an outlay of Rs 51.41 crore to check the smuggling of weapons and drugs from across the border, a statement said. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here.

A spokesperson of the chief minister's office said nine anti-drone systems will be installed along 532 kilometres of border with Pakistan.

The anti-drone system (ADS) was required to enhance the capability to detect and neutralise hostile drones, thereby preventing the influx of arms, explosives and narcotics that are smuggled from across the border, the spokesperson said.

Mann said that Rs 51.41 crore will be spent by the state government for this initiative.

The need for deploying the anti-drone system has been recognised by the state government in the border districts of Punjab on priority and on an urgent basis.

The state government had earlier announced that it would deploy an anti-drone system to check the smuggling of narcotics and weapons through unmanned aerial vehicles from Pakistan.

In another move, aimed at ensuring affordable housing to people, the cabinet gave its consent to simplify the land acquisition process through direct purchase to expedite the process of establishing urban estates and timely completion of other development works in the state.

The spokesperson said the Cabinet also gave its consent for the land pooling scheme of the housing department to set up more urban estates.

The policy will be helpful in providing affordable housing facilities to people, he said.

The land to be acquired for the development of urban estates will be identified by a committee as per the land purchase policy of the Department of Revenue and Rehabilitation, said the spokesperson.

(editor@dailyworld.in)