For providing better security, preventing wrong declaration and smuggling in concealed form, the Union government will install a container scanner at the Visakhapatnam Port by June-end.
Though it has been decided to make it mandatory in all the major ports, the implementation in Visakhapatnam has been delayed due to certain problems. The scanner, which has reached the city sometime ago, will be installed on the compound of the Visakha Container Terminal Private Ltd, a BOT operator of Visakhapatnam Port.
“It will be a non-intrusive method and the scanning will be done by our officials without stoppage of vehicles. The drive through scanning will save lot of time,” Principal Commissioner of Customs D.K. Srinivas told The Hindu .
The scanner will be mounted on an elevated place. It will be equipped with a U-shaped arm and high resolution cameras. It is expected to increase the dwell time of the consignments. In a bid to ward off irregularities and fasten the checking process, Indian Ports Association has been mandated to facilitate procurement of mobile scanners in all the major ports. Sources said depending on increase in cargo, another mobile scanner will be installed in the port.
Big relief
The capacity of Visakhapatnam Port, which was 67 million tonne in 2014, has gone up to 127 million tonne. It is expected to go up to 145 million tonne due to capacity augmentation and mechanisation in the next two years. Fifteen capacity addition projects were taken up at a cost of ₹3,171 crore during the past five years of which 11 have been completed so far.
Due to increased volumes of trade, it has become a necessity. Mainly for imported iron scrap, it will bring a big relief as random checking of unloading and inspection used to involve a lot of manpower, time and cost. During drive through scanning, the vehicles need not be stopped, which used to be a practice so far.
The scanner being installed in the city can check 60 scanners per hour. The scanner is supplied through ECIL at a cost of ₹1.5 crore. On an average, 2,000 containers of iron scrap are received at the terminal everyday.
NOC awaited
The scanner will be linked to the Customs integrated software and based on risk parameters the images generated by the scanner will be examined. At present, no objection certificate is awaited from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
The board has to be satisfied that the scanner will not emit radiation above the permissible limits.
