Chennai: Passengers, who land in the Anna International Terminal at Chennai airport, are often stuck in long queues outside the baggage scan kiosks and counters for customs clearance due to severe shortage of customs officials.
The airport has five counters for baggage scans and 14 red channel tables where dutiable goods like gold, silver, perfumes and electronic goods are checked and assessed. The airport has just 86 air customs officers including assistant commissioners, superintendents and inspector-rank officers against the sanctioned strength of 113. Every day, officials are divided into four batches comprising one assistant commissioner, four superintendents and 10-12 air customs officers of inspector rank and posted for duty. The shortage forces officers to stretch work to 12 hours almost everyday. If officials troop in late, passengers who have travelled long distances are often forced to wait for long after midnight.
"We need at least two officers for each of the red channel tables. But the crowd waiting to be cleared starts building up because some counters remain unmanned even during peak hours," said an airport official. Airline Operators Committee (AOC) has also raised the issue with Airports Authority of India ( AAI) at several meetings in the last couple of months. "We often find passengers waiting in long queues for customs clearance. Airlines are also facing delays. We need more customs men to clear passengers fast," said an airline official.
28/06/11 V Ayyappan/Times of India
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