Following the recent death of 10 steelworkers in Ghaziabad as a result of live ammunition in a consignment of scrap exploding, the authorities have imposed restrictions on all future imports of scrap into India.

In a public notice, issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade on the 9th October, the

"Import of metallic waste and scrap shall be permitted in shredded and compacted form only; however, metallic waste and scrap in unshredded and uncompacted form may be imported through the major ports (covered by the Major Port Trusts Act 1963) and the inland Container Depot at Tughalakabad, New Delhi only. The customs authorities shall carry out 100% inspection of such unshredded and uncompacted materials".

The origin of the scrap containing the explosives above is not clear although it is reported a company based in Dubai is involved. Live/dead ammunition has also been reported at Nhava Sheva, Kandla and other places in India, in containers as well as in bulk. Ammunition of Russian origin is reportedly involved which could have originated from Afghanistan/Iraq.

Members should take particular care when loading scrap metal from areas of conflict.

Source of information: Capt T Manohar
Pandi Correspondents Pvt Ltd
Mumbai
e-mail: pandi@vsnl.com


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