Mumbai: Thursday, October 9, 3.30 PM. The narrow, dusty road to Mumbai airport's cargo terminal is lined with trucks as far as the eyes can see. Amol, a scraggly teenager, is asleep in a tempo he has been driving. Awakened, he says he has been in the queue since 4 in the morning. In almost 12 hours — that is, more than the time it takes to fly to any European destination — his cargo has barely moved one kilometre, and is still two trucks away from the entrance. Inside the gate, the queue scatters into several smaller lines, crawling to facilities that handle different kinds of cargo: general exports, perishable exports, imports, etc.
About 1,200 trucks come into the airport every day. But there is no order. Several trucks carrying light cargo sneak into a shorter queue actually meant exclusively for heavy vehicles carrying over 300 tonnes of freight. Some export cargo vehicles divert into the line of empty trucks waiting for import consignments. Many trucks are parked in a space not meant for parking.
17/10/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
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About 1,200 trucks come into the airport every day. But there is no order. Several trucks carrying light cargo sneak into a shorter queue actually meant exclusively for heavy vehicles carrying over 300 tonnes of freight. Some export cargo vehicles divert into the line of empty trucks waiting for import consignments. Many trucks are parked in a space not meant for parking.
17/10/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times
