Vegetables exported from Calcutta rejected by European and Gulf countries because of staleness

Nearly 60 per cent of the 100-odd tonnes of vegetables that had been exported through Calcutta airport to Europe and the Gulf countries during the 11-day window before Puja had been sent back because they reached the destination in stale condition.
This is due to an unserviceable X-Ray scanner at the airport that had been lying defunct for 11 days. It is the only X-ray scanner in the airport's perishable cargo handling and it malfunctioned from September 24 to October 4. AS a result, exporters were forced to keep the vegetables in the non-perishable cargo section for a few hours till they were loaded on flights.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 19 October 2016.

The rejected cargo consisted of gourds, long beans, papayas, fresh turmeric, ridge gourds and flat beans and is worth nearly Rs 80 lakh. Heathrow airport in London had rejected 15 tonnes of vegetables that had sent before Puja. The state exports approximately 2,500 tonnes of vegetables every year and 30 per cent go to Europe.
Officials of international airlines have indicated that, at times, consignments booked for a flight during the September 24-October 4 window had to be flown out the next day because of the delay related to the X-ray scan. The airport authorities have assured that two new X-ray machines would be installed by the end of November in the perishable cargo unit and, one of these will be on stand-by, thereby such problems will be averted.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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