Cargo backlog increases at airport
Posted on: 26/Jul/2013 11:26:12 AM
As the protest by customs officials continues, so does the backlog of cargo at the Chennai airport.
Say officials, ‘We understand there are disruptions but they will be cleared shortly… As many as 200 officials have been protesting since three of their colleagues were taken by the CBI for questioning in relation to a pharmaceutical drug import case… On an average, every day, 1,000 documents have to be cleared by the officials. But due to this protest, over 2,000 documents have piled up. We may have to pay heavy demurrage charges for the cargo as it has been more than 72 hours since the cargo reached the terminal.
‘Many officials have been refusing to attend to even routine procedure, resulting in the backlog of documents. It would take at least two weeks to restore normalcy… Another reason for the pile-up was a technical glitch in the Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System 1.5 (ICES 1.5) software version.’
