Govt asks all 12 major ports to install radioactive detectors

New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) The government has asked all 12
state-owned major ports to go for advanced radioactive
material detectors fearing lack of it could result in shipment
of hazardous materials into the country.
"The Shipping Ministry has issued letters to all major
ports to immediately assess the requirement for the number of
radioactive material detectors at each major port and get it
installed. Six major ports are likely to be equipped with it
in six months, while the remaining will have it by March,
2012," a senior Shipping Ministry official told PTI.
"Unfortunately, barring two scanners at Jawaharlal Nehru
Port Trust (JNPT), all ports lack scanners, which makes it
extremely difficult to check the container traffic. The Home
Ministry had also reviewed the situation, while we are in
touch with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre too," the
official said.
All ports have been asked to make budgetary provisions
for procuring the radiation detectors. The ministry has asked
Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) to make a
demonstration of the equipment soon, the official said.
A prototype of the gadget has already been installed at
the Nava Sheva port in Mumbai and once installed, the
detectors will play a pivotal role in security, as they will
scan cargo stacked within steel containers.
Asked about the cost of the gadgets, the official said a
primary detector can cost anything between Rs 40 lakh and Rs
50 lakh, adding that apart from these, there were handheld
secondary and tertiary gadgets for radiation detection.
The total cost of installing the detectors, he said,
would be estimated after the assessment by ports and it was
likely to be done soon. ECIL was about to make a presentation
of its own before the ministry soon, he added.
A lot of container traffic, sources said, goes unexamined
at major ports -- Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust,
Kolkata (with Haldia), Chennai, Visakhapatanam, Cochin,
Paradip, New Mangalore, Marmagao, Ennore, Tuticorin and
Kandla.
These ports handled 560.68 million tonnes of cargo,
including 102 MT of iron ore, in just concluded 2009-10.
The cargo handled in 2008-09 was 530.35 MT. PTI