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The Air cargo terminal is situated on the IGI Airport and is divided into two major
sections namely the Export Warehouse and the Import Warehouse. We visited the
export ware house first. A brief about both of them is as follows:
i. Export warehouse
At the entrance are the ‘Truck Docks’ where the trucks filled with cargo to be
exported are brought by the Clearing Agents. The area where they are stored till
approved is called the ‘Examination Area’. The cargo needs to be approved by the
Custom’s Agent’s before it passes through. The freight to be paid by the exporting
party is decided on the basis of the weight of the containers and the materials in it.
Most of the airlines (through which the cargo is to be sent) have their offices located
on the first floor of the warehouse. They should be informed and booked in advance
for the sending of the cargo.
After the cargo is received at the entrance of the warehouse, it is sent to the
Custom’s for approval. They have to examine a minimum 10% of the cargo and can
even call back the cargo form the bonded area to the examination area, in case they
are suspicious. It should adhere to the necessary packaging and labelling
compliances. Packaging standards are different in case of dangerous goods such as
explosives, chemicals, oxidisers, corrosives, etc. It is necessary since certain items
can be carried only in cargo aircraft and not otherwise. However, there are no
separate charges that are levied for carrying such goods; just an indication of their
nature. These are decided on the basis of the IATA norms and mentioned on the
entrance. Only after it is approved, it is send forward. From here, first it is passed
Internal Port Visit
through the X-Ray testing machines to check for any hazardous goods or materials
present in it.
After the Custom officers clear it, they give it the ‘Let Export’ order and hence the
cargo is moved form the Examination area to the ‘Bonded area’.
There also exists an ‘Export Strong Room’ which is used to store the valuable items
such as currency, jewellery, etc.
The export ship duty officer is responsible for the overall supervision of the shipment
and export loading.
The loading base for the cargo is of the standard size 125 X 85 inches. It can take up
to 4.5 tonnes of cargo on an average. The maximum height of the cargo can be of 5
feet. The cargo is covered with a polythene sheet and the process of doing this is
called ‘Lashing’. No loose movement of cargo is allowed. After the unit load Device
(ULD) is loaded and passes on, it is stacked mechanically on to the racks and hence
given a unique location number. The location ticket is collected by the Elevated
Transfer Vehicle (ETV) operator. The ULD number as well as the destination needs to
be noted down by the respective airlines. Moreover, the airlines pay for all the
loading, stacking, etc. and are also liable to may demurrage charges in case the
process takes more than 48hrs. Also, in case the cargo is lying in the warehouse for
more than six weeks and there is no one to claim it, it is automatically transferred to
the Special Disposal Cell.
All the cargo is off loaded through a common terminal.
The most important fact to be noticed here is that if the cargo is not claimed by any
airline within 48 hours, it is charged extra on per hour basis and the cost has to be
borne by the Clearing Agent.
The air cargo terminal exports up to 400-450 tonnes on a daily average and imports
close to 350 tonnes. The usual Export items are readymade garments, carpets,
leather, generic medicines, etc.
Freighters: Deccan 360 is the most common freighter and uses an Airbus 310 with a
capacity of 45-50 tonnes. Whereas, a Boeing can take up to 100 tonnes in one go.
Internal Port Visit
The warehouse also has a facility for storing the Transhipment Cargo i.e. cargo
moving from one international location to another and stopping at Delhi. No
clearance or inspection is required for such cargo since they are anyways inspected
at their point of origin and at the destination. They just need to get an official
document signed that says: ‘Not opened Cargo’ and give them the necessary
clearance.
Cold Storage Facility: There is also a cold storage facility at the exit of the warehouse
for perishable goods. The cargo within the aircraft is also maintained at a suitable
temperature.
There were three cold storage cells here: Two of them were at 2degree Celsius and
the third on -6degrees Celsius.
Each of the shipment arriving at the import warehouse is given a Cargo manifest and
an Airway Bill (AWB). After giving them these documents the shipment is inspected
by the custom’s officers here. However, no X-ray check is done for the import cargo
as against the export cargo. After the customs’ approve the cargo, they issue an ‘Out
of Charge’ slip for the same.
After checking the cargo, a Segregation sheet is prepared where we get a list of
perishable/non perishable, damaged/not damaged cargo. It is then cross checked
with the manifest.
A special officer known as the ‘Ship Duty Officer’ is responsible for feeding all the
data about the cargo according to the manifest in the system.
The airlines, on the other hand, would simultaneously issue the delivery order to the
consignee and inform him/her that the cargo has arrived. The freight charges can
either be prepaid or paid later.
The unloading of the cargo has been outsourced to JACK Cargo. The performance
parameters for the same are:
The operations of the ICDs revolve around the following centres of activity:-
The place where container trains are received, dispatched and handled in a
terminal. Similarly, the containers are loaded on and unloaded from rail
wagons at the siding through overhead cranes and / or other lifting
equipments.
iii. Warehouse
BENEFITS OF ICDs
ICD
Tughlakabad
ICD Tughlakabad was visited as a part of the Academic inland port visit on 7th August, 2009.
The ICD Tughlakabad is the largest dry port in South Asia and the leading centre for
importers and exporters of the Northern Region. This ICD began functioning at Tughlakabad
in 1993, prior to which it was located at Pragati Maidan. Container Corporation of India Ltd
(CONCOR), which is the Public Sector Undertaking, is responsible for this ICD. CONCOR are
also the carriers, through rail, of import and export containers between ICD Tughlakabad
and the Gateway Ports of Mumbai, Nhava Sheva and Chennai.
This ICD is the focal Port for the ICDs at PPG, Faridabad and Garhi Harsaru and the
movement of the containers between the ICDs to and fro takes place by road. The Customs
area houses two covered Sheds, one for import and the other for exports. The main
Internal Port Visit
CONCOR building houses the administrative staff of Customs and CONCOR as well as the
offices of CHAs and Shipping lines. The staff working at ICD Tughlakabad is the regular
Departmental staff and not on cost recovery basis.
a. Office of Customs,
b. CONCOR,
c. Bank,
d. Shipping Lines,
e. CHAs and
f. Surveyors.
Four full length rail lines are available in the Customs area which brings the containers
by train from Gateway ports such as Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Chennai, besides bringing
the containers by road from other ports such as Haldia, Calcutta and Kandla, etc.
The equipment and facilities are the latest in technology, incognito is the Rail Linkage to the
gateway ports, and with the Delhi-Mumbai route forming a part of the Golden Quadrilateral
of Indian Railways, the importance of this establishment is even more. In terms of road
transport the nearness with the NH2 and having approach to major roads in Delhi
connecting all National Highways.
a. machinery,
b. electronic goods,
c. plastic, chemicals,
d. motor vehicles and parts
e. metal and metal scrap – is banned due to environmental issues
On export side major items being exported through ICD are leather garments and
leather products, readymade garments, machinery, agricultural products especially
rice.
Internal Port Visit
ICD, TKD (ICD, Tughlakabad) has the following infrastructure facilities for operations, located inside
the custom bonded area
Offered Services
Activities
ICD, TKD provides following services to exporters, importers and shipping lines:
Customs clearance and cargo inspection within the Custom bonded area
Import/Export LCL/FCL cargo handling
Receipts and dispatch of container trains between ICD, TKD and other ICDs as well as gateway
ports
Receipts and dispatch of containers by road from and to other ICDs, CFSs and customers’ premises
Loading and unloading of containers to and from trains
Stuffing and de-stuffing of containers in the warehouses
Storage of empty containers offered by shipping lines and handling of loaded and empty reefer
containers.
Internal Port Visit
After the visit, some research led to the question of transportation security at ICDs.
ICDs are a common user facility for handling/temporary storage of import/export laden and
empty shipping containers. Transhipment of cargo can also take place from such terminals
and the Customs clear goods at the ICD. No Customs clearance is required at gateway ports
thus it increases trade flows and also decongests seaports.
The ICD Tughlakabad is the largest dry port in South Asia and the leading centre for box
traffic transportation. Among the major items transported through this dry port are
machinery, electronic goods, metal and metal scrap. It is the latter that has caught the
attention of security forces.
In October 2004, bomb disposal squads of the Indian Army and the National Security Guards
diffused live rocket shells from the scrap consignment that arrived at the Bhushan Steel
Company from Iran. This US $ 25,000 consignment loaded in shipping containers left Bander
Abbas in Iran on board M V Kuo Long. The containers were bound for the Inland Container
Depot (ICD), Tughlakabad, via Mundra port in Gujarat. The security agencies recovered
more than fifty shells/bombs in the consignment. Unfortunately, the procedures followed
for inspection of containers at the ICD Tughlakabad were lax.
At the ICD, the container is unsealed and examined in the presence of the customs
examination staff. During examination, a certain percentage of the packages are opened
and this percentage is determined by the risk factors that are evaluated by the Custom
department on the basis of risk assessment techniques. The importer is required to make the
necessary arrangements for the speedy de-stuffing of the cargo in conformance with the
examination orders given by the Appraising Groups.
As per the manning guidelines of the Central Board of Excise & Customs, the ICDs would
normally operate with a staff of 13 officers
The above clearly illustrates that the ICD are ill equipped to undertake a thorough
inspection of the containers. This is one of the reasons why explosive materials and live
ammunition escaped the eyes of the ICD Tughlakabad officials.
Internal Port Visit
It is true that it is humanly impossible to physically check each container for its contents but
what is more worrisome is that the ICD at Tughlakabad has emerged as the weakest link in
the container transportation chain in the country.
Nearly 3000 tons of scrap loaded in some two hundred containers arrives daily at the ICD.
Similar is the story of a large number of ICDs in the country. Ironically, none of the Indian
seaports other than Nawa Sheva near Mumbai has explosive detection equipment, and only
one, has container x-ray facilities.
The Indian Government response to the discovery of unexploded ordnance was a notification
from the Ministry of Commerce laying down new rules for the import of waste metal. The
notification stipulated that the import of metallic waste and scrap shall henceforth be
permitted only in shredded and compacted form but allowed the import of loose scrap
through "major ports only."
Apparently, the government has also removed the clause in the pre-shipment certificate,
which seeks the importer to specify the country of origin, from where the metallic scrap is
imported. What is more disturbing is the fact that none of the ICDs have any cargo scanning
facility.
As noted, it is humanly impossible to physically check each container for its contents. So
where does the solution lie? The answer is through harnessing technology to act as a force
multiplier. These technologies must be non-intrusive, safe for operators, cost effective, highly
reliable and more importantly speedy in order to avoid unwarranted interruptions to the
flow of commerce. There is thus a need to install scanning equipment to examine contents in
containers without unloading. Therefore, for a safe system of commerce, a comprehensive
and credible approach to security is essential