Army Chief General N C Vij is on a visit to the forward posts of Jammu & Kashmir to review the overall situation and the ongoing efforts to fence the Line of Control.

General Vij's visit would be followed by that of several other senior officers as the Centre prepares for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's trip to the Kashmir valley slated for some time in August, according to a senior official.

According to the army, General Vij would be visiting forward posts from August 16 to August 20. An Army spokesman said. among the issues he would review is the 'progress of the construction of a fence' along the border with Pakistan to prevent infiltration of terrorists.

At present, the army is working on a 110km section of a 523km stretch identified for fencing. According to the army's plans, the work would be completed by mid-2004.

In Jammu region, the Border Security Force is undertaking the task.

Recently, BSF Inspector General (Jammu range) Dilip Trivedi told rediff.com that only two or three terrorists infiltrated this year through the 80km stretch of the border that is fenced compared to the approximately 200 terrorists each year during earlier summers.

The BSF lost four personnel and while 32 were injured during the course of the fencing work.

More reports from Jammu and Kashmir