Day After Beirut Explosion, CBIC Directs Custom Officials To Conduct Immediate Safety Scrutiny Of Ports 

In a bid to enhance safety and avoid any unfortunate incident, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has directed the Customs and field formations to verify and confirm within 48 hours whether hazardous and explosive material lying in the warehouses and ports across the country meet the safety and fire standards and present no danger to life and property.

The move comes just days after the massive blasts in the port of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and is a precautionary measure to ensure that storage of such materials does not pose any danger to life and property and strictly meets fire standards, reports Economic Times.

CBIC said in a tweet on Thursday said: "This precautionary step has been taken in view of the recent incident of an explosion in a foreign country caused by such material."

“CBIC has urgently directed customs and field formations to immediately verify and confirm within 48 hours that any hazardous and explosive material lying in warehouses and ports across the country meets all safety and fire standards and presents no danger to life and property,” it added.

According to Lebanese officials the blast occurred due to a large quantity of poorly stored ammonium nitrate. At least 137 people were killed and 5,000 wounded in a massive explosion that shook Beirut on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's health minister.

With IANS Inputs