Knowledgeable sources believe that this method of countering terrorism is fraught with unacceptable dangers.

Essentially, the sources say, the high level of radiation of the scanners harmful to human beings would not allow subjecting every vehicle to scanning and that scanning only the suspect vehicles would make an explosion a certainty if a vehicle of real terrorists is caught.

Sources in the interior ministry and police told Dawn on Wednesday that only suspected vehicles would be made go through the scanners to be installed by the roadside at a checkpoint.

Passengers of the suspected vehicle will be disembarked to protect them from radiation hazard.

The first two of the more than 20 scanners to be installed at entry points of Islamabad and its high security zones are expected to start functioning in two weeks.

One will check passenger vehicles and the other goods carriers. Results of this initial exercise would be monitored closely.

China is supplying the scanners, each costing over a million dollars, against a soft loan, at the interest rate of two per cent, to be repaid over 20 years.

A senior police officer said the site where the first two scanners would be fixed were yet to be decided. However, the one meant to scan passenger vehicles could be placed either at the entrance of the so-called Red Zone or be kept mobile, he said.

There are more than 160 points of entry into Islamabad but four main entry points for goods carrying vehicles – Islamabad Chowk, Fayzabad, Wheat Godown and Ninth Avenue.

According to the officer, a team of 10 police personnel – an assistant superintendent of police and nine computer-literate constables, received training in operating the scanner in China for 15 days and returned home on October 31.

A scanner takes about 35 minutes to start, and 35 second to scan a truck or bus and 15 to 20 seconds to scan a smaller vehicle.

Operators of the scanner and the driver of the vehicle being checked will wear special gear to protect them from the scanner’s strong radiation.

Radiology experts told Dawn that the scanners used to scan metal and wood emit strong radiation, dangerous to human health. Regular or even frequent exposure could lead to contracting cancer.

Radiation also damages reproductive system of male and female, and could be particularly harmful to pregnant women, they warned.