Planes missing, fruits to India rot in Kabul: 

Planes missing, fruits to India rot in Kabul: 

Context:

• Weeks after the India-Afghanistan air corridor trade project was launched, the project has run into rough weather.

Explanation:

• The matters got worse when tonnes of fresh fruits, including apricots and melons, were left rotting at the Kabul airport.
• The flight chartered by Afghanistan’s national carrier, Ariana airlines, on July 20, 2017 failed to arrive on time, and the fruits were not moved to cold storage.
• Angered by the losses, traders, who say as much as 120 tonnes of fruits, are still waiting to be transported from the airport, demanded that the government take swift action or they would find it hard to continue exporting perishable produce to India.

The reason behind:

• Among the issues, say exporters, is the lack of “cargo screening machines” that necessitates packaging and repackaging, and the lack of adequate cold storage facilities at the airport.
• On the Indian side, traders say they worry about clearing the perishable goods quickly through Indian customs, and the process is yet to be streamlined.
• Procedural delays were supposed to be sorted out within a month of the corridor starting, but there are yet to be resolved.