Delhi Metro: Govt mulling to sanction over 2,100 more CISF

New Delhi: Government is mulling to enhance the CISF manpower by over 2,100 personnel keeping in view the increasing load of passengers and consequently emerging security challenges in the Delhi Metro network running across the national capital region.

A proposal in this regard had been prepared by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and submitted to the Union Home Ministry in the backdrop of an ever increasing footfall of about 26 lakh commuters every day and the strain on existing manpower to ensure fool proof security to this sensitive rapid rail network.

As per official data, accessed by PTI, while the total existing deployment strength of the central paramilitary forces to secure the Delhi Metro network is 4,869, the augmentation proposal under consideration of the Home Ministry in this regard is 2,120 additional CISF men and women.

The proposal has been prepared in coordination with central security agencies, it said. Officials said this strength is the minimum required to effectively secure the fully operational I and II phases of the Metro and it is expected that the Home Ministry will soon give its final sanction for the new manpower.

They said keeping in mind a last year incident where a man was able to sneak in a pistol and use it to fire upon himself at the busy Rajiv Chowk Metro station is one such major incident which has underlined the need to have more men on ground to check the thronging crowds at a number of stations in the network.

Soon after the incident, the CISF and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had undertaken a major drive to increase the height of side gates separating unpaid and paid areas of these stations so that no passenger can take in any unchecked material or bags from these gates.

"The CISF also deploys spotters in plain clothes at vulnerable locations inside the stations to curb and check these incidents but with an increasing load of passengers and introduction of new stations in these two phases, both human and technical resources are under strain.

"Fresh manpower will definitely help in mounting an effective vigil," a senior Home Ministry official involved in Delhi Metro security operations said.

"The proposal is under active consideration of the Ministry and it should be cleared soon with may be a few changes in the numbers demanded," the official said.

The force also plans to use the new manpower in keeping a bird eye's view on the outer peripheries of these stations and enhance its patrols and quick reaction teams to sanitise areas like parking lots and main entry and exit points from the point of anti-terror strike surveillance.

The existing Delhi Metro network runs in the national capital region areas of Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon with over 150 stations between these locations.

An estimated over 26 lakh commuters take the Delhi Metro everyday.