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Central Government/Public Sector | Maharashtra - India | PID: 180524
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An under-vehicle scanner will be the last security device to be deployed on Central Railway under a multi-crore Integrated Security System (ISS) project announced 10 years ago. Six stations and termini, like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Kurla, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Thane and Kalyan, were to be provided with security devices phase-wise. But deployment began as late as 2012 and will only conclude next month
The project was conceptualised across India to upgrade security with advanced surveillance cameras, baggage and passenger screening systems, access control, and bomb detection and disposal. Over the years, the plan to build a complete boundary wall along CR tracks was dropped.
There are more than 940 surveillance cameras at the six stations at present. “The process of putting up 210 additional cameras in blind spots is on. Government Railway Police (GRP), which handles crime investigation, informed us of blind spots in station areas. Criminals could take advantage of these spots to slip out. A list of such spots was made and installation of cables for cameras concluded. GRP also said few cameras were not pointing in the right direction, which is being corrected,” said an RPF officer
There are 85 door-frame metal detectors and around 430 hand-held metal detectors at the six stations. Eleven X-ray baggage scanners (three each at CSMT and LTT) and eight under-vehicle scanners have been deployed. The last under-vehicle scanner under this project will be mounted at LTT. “The volume of passengers at railway stations is higher than that at airports. It’s not possible to scan every passenger or baggage. Our personnel randomly frisk passengers and check baggage. They observe body language to determine if someone is acting suspiciously
Ketan Goradia, an engineer who had floated a proposal for connecting CST-Churchgate with a rail link and had been a member of the accident prevention committee on CR, said deploying more security devices will not help as long as stations are open from all sides. “Access control should be the priority. Secondly, monitoring each camera humanly is never going to be possible. Artificial intelligence will have to be combined with surveillance to analyse what’s happening in video feeds and make them instantly searchable. The metal detectors are a joke, as even if they emit an alarm when a commuter passes through, there’s neither the time nor space for security agencies to check that commuter,” said Goradia
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its report for 2011-12, had criticised railways for delay implementation of the project at CSMT, where 52 persons were gunned down by terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan on November 26, 2008
| Updated on: 13 - Sep - 2018
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