CBIC directs Customs to check safety of explosives in warehouses, ports

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on Thursday directed field offices to verify within 48 hours that all explosive materials lying in Customs warehouses and ports meet safety and fire standards and pose no danger to people's lives.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) 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 confirm and verify 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," the CBIC tweeted.

A huge explosion on Tuesday in the port of Beirut, capital city of Lebanon, left about 135 people dead and 5,000 injured. More than 2,000 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in the Beirut port has emerged as the possible source of the blast.