Customs office to be developed into regional customs museum: Top customs official Jyotishi

MANGALURU: The department of customs will convert the customs office at old port into the regional customs museum. Reflecting the spirit of Customs Museum in Goa, the department will strive to make it into a tourist spot – for local and foreigners alike – giving the visitors a slice of history attached to 133-year-old building that CPWD has restored at a cost of Rs 89.46 lakh, Bengaluru zone chief commissioner of customs AK Jyotishi said.
Inaugurating the renovated customs office on Tuesday, Jyotishi, noting that renovation is the first phase of developing it into a regional museum, appealed to the stakeholders to donate artefacts connected to the department for display. Assuring donors their contribution will be acknowledged, Jyotishi directed Parag C Borkar, commissioner of customs, Mangaluru to set up a display board with QR code that tourists can scan for an AV presentation on Customs House.
The customs office gives me goosebumps in that it is a repository of history of international trade that this coastal city has over the centuries. Mangaluru was an important trade port then and has imbibed a lot of culture from outside (traders) while exporting its culture outside, he said. Customs office will be given a vibrant, impressive front façade with decorative lighting, good lawn and a memorabilia shop set up to kindle tourist interest, he said.
M Subramanyam, commissioner of GST audit, Bengaluru who in his earlier posting as commissioner of customs, Mangaluru initiated the renovation project, said the customs office is a tribute to people who ensured economic sovereignty of India. Recalling the unprecedented instance when the entire top brass of CPWD inspected the building in 2016 during their visit here, he said the renovation is a result of coordination of various government agencies.
Crediting the entire ‘Team Mangaluru’ of customs for seeing the project through, especially Borkar for honouring his vision for the customs office, Subramanyam urged Jyotishi to get India Post release a special cover for this historical building. While a part of the renovated customs office will house regular offices of customs, the rest will be developed into a full-fledged gallery where literature and exhibits will be displayed, Subramanyam said.
SN Rai, chief engineer, South Zone-3, CPWD, Bengaluru said the close association between the customs and CPWD has ensured that a project this unique in nature was executed in a record time.
Work to start during current fiscal
Work on much touted Customs House for Bengaluru Customs Commissionerate will commence during the current fiscal year. Department of customs has purchased around 4,300 square metre (1.1 acre land) on the Kempegowda International Airport premises at Devanahalli and the building is expected to be completed in three-year time, Jyotishi said.
In an informal chat with media on the sidelines of inaugurating the renovated customs office, Jyotishi said presently, Bengaluru Customs Commissionerate covers offices of air cargo complex, airport, inland container depot, customs division and postal appraising department with its headquarters at Central Revenue Building on Queens Road. All these offices will be housed at the new Customs House, bringing them closer to stakeholders, he said.
In a move aimed at shoring up its preventive action in the state, the customs department has already acquired a mobile container scanner for New Mangalore Port. Work on installing the scanner is presently under way and will be commissioned in the next two to three months, Jyotishi said, adding this will prove to be a big boon to local trade and also lay increasing accent of the department to rely more on technology than human intervention.
Risk management software deployed by customs will decide on container that needs to be scanned based on specific intelligence, he said, adding, it is being installed adjacent to the container yard at the port at a cost of Rs 30 crore, including 10-year maintenance.