New Delhi: Government has deployed more than 1,300 additional security personnel for guarding key airports across the country in the last five months as part of a systematic enhancement of vigil and surveillance.
The decision to gradually enhance security deployment at all the major and sensitive airports across the country was taken during a top level meet of CISF, Civil Aviation ministry and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and chaired
by Union Home Secretary GK Pilai, in May.
Since then, the government has sanctioned 879 new posts of security personnel drawn from the CISF for the Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi, 120 posts for Jabalpur
airport in Madhya Pradesh, 29 posts for Jorhat airport and 275 posts at Ahmedabad airport.
The CISF is guarding about 58 airports across the country and the paramilitary force along with the BCAS has prepared a blue-print to plug loopholes and fortify both the
air and city sides of the airports.
"A systematic and gradual enhancement in security relating to biometric access, construction of watch towers, raising of perimeter walls, installation of CCTV cameras,
provision of dog squads and bomb disposal squads at major and sensitive airports has been taking place since the last few months," sources in the security establishment said.
About ten more airports, including some new ones are already lined up for a fresh security deployment or upgrade, they said.
The Mumbai International Airport was also provided with 550 additional Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) earlier this year as part of security upgrade.
In order to meet the requirement for additional security personnel, Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and commando units, the Home Ministry last month sanctioned raising of two
additional battalions in the CISF comprising 2,050 personnel.
As both the domestic and international airports are handling a increasing number of air flyers, the CISF and the BCAS have also been asked to regularly change deployment
patterns at airports and deploy adequate number of snoop and detector gadgets.
PTI
