9 more scanners at airport to ease customs officials’ work

Mumbai: In a relief to customs officials facing it tough to scan baggages — only four scanners are installed for 15,000-20,000 arrivals per day — airport authorities will install dedicated baggage scanners on the baggage conveyor belts at the international arrival terminal. The first will be installed in February and the rest by April end.
Customs laws require the baggage of incoming international passengers to be put under the scanners. While this law is unique to India, it makes it extremely cumbersome for customs officials especially when it comes to diamonds attached to a metal or even unpolished ones. These show up only as white dust on the X-ray scanners making their detection extremely difficult. Currency notes are also difficult to detect as passengers who do not declare foreign currency wrap it in carbon paper toevade detection, say customs officials.
“We are in the process of installing nine machines on the arrival conveyor belts. The machines will be operated by customs officials and will be installed right at the start of the conveyor belts in the airside of the airport. The first machine will be installed in February and the rest will be installed by April end this year,” said Manish Kalghatgi, spokesperson, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL).
01/02/10 Shashank Shekhar/Indian Express

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Categories: Airports Feb 2010