Tonnes of vegetables exported from Calcutta have been sent back by European and Gulf countries as they reached the destinations stale, a consequence of an X-ray scanner at the airport lying defunct for 11 days.
Sources said the lone X-ray scanner in the airport's perishable cargo handling area malfunctioned from September 24 to October 4, forcing exporters to keep the vegetables in the non-perishable cargo section for a few hours till they were loaded on flights.
"Since the vegetables were stored in the non-perishable cargo section, which lacks an air-conditioning storage, most of them became stale when they reached their destinations," an exporter said.
"Around 60 per cent of the 100-odd tonnes of vegetables exported through Calcutta airport to Europe and the Gulf during the 11-day window before Puja had been sent back. The rejected cargo - which included gourds, long beans, papayas, fresh turmeric, ridge gourds and flat beans - is worth around Rs 80 lakh."
19/10/16 Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph
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Sources said the lone X-ray scanner in the airport's perishable cargo handling area malfunctioned from September 24 to October 4, forcing exporters to keep the vegetables in the non-perishable cargo section for a few hours till they were loaded on flights.
"Since the vegetables were stored in the non-perishable cargo section, which lacks an air-conditioning storage, most of them became stale when they reached their destinations," an exporter said.
"Around 60 per cent of the 100-odd tonnes of vegetables exported through Calcutta airport to Europe and the Gulf during the 11-day window before Puja had been sent back. The rejected cargo - which included gourds, long beans, papayas, fresh turmeric, ridge gourds and flat beans - is worth around Rs 80 lakh."
19/10/16 Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph
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