During a recent visit to the border by Union Home Secretary R K Singh, SSB chief Pranay Sahay and other top officials in the border management cell of the Home Ministry, the agencies found that a number of permanent warehouses have cropped up within 100 metres of the 'no man's land' on either side of the international boundary.
Taking cognisance of the security implications, the Home Ministry has written to border states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, while the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the 1,751-km long frontier, has voiced concern to its Nepalese counterpart and asked it to ascertain the identity and purpose of these warehouses.
"A number of warehouses have come up on both sides of the Nepal border. Such construction is not allowed along the secure zone of the borders. This development is being taken seriously and efforts are on to address it fast," an official said.
These warehouses, which are being monitored and enumerated by security and intelligence agencies, could be used to conceal a host of items that are smuggled across both the sides of the 'open' Indo-Nepal border, he said.
Arms smuggling and economic crimes are also characteristic of this border and hence the agencies are taking no chance to address the issue, he said.
