Chennai: It has been about a fortnight since commuters have been questioning the standards of safety and security surveillance after the Arumbakkam metro station received a bomb threat. But not much has changed as security staff members go through the formalities of security checks at entrances to stations in a routine manner.
“They just brush the shoulders with their hands and let passengers go. No metal detectors or body scanners are used for the purpose. The idea is just to say that security check was carried out,” said R. Vandana, a regular commuter who uses the Ekkatuthangal metro railway station.
Agreeing with Vandana, another regular metro commuter K. Aarthi says, “Baggage and body scanners are switched off often and only if the passenger voluntarily keeps the luggage on the luggage scanner, do they switch it on. It is a general practice and security is not taken seriously”.
Problems do not end with metro stations. The ground checks at major railway stations reveal the same picture. Even after repeated complaints and issues raised by the public on security measures, it is not a difficult task for anyone to escape the security checks at major railway stations like Chennai Egmore and Chennai Central.
Only one of the body scanners provided at Gate 4 is functional; the other two are just for show. Luggage scanners at Gate 2, Gate 3 and Gate 4 do not have functional luggage scanners and Gate 1 is a free entry and exit for all.
“I don’t understand why railways wait for a tragedy to be on the alert for a while in its wake. Why cannot they take take precautionary measures to avoid such mishaps? How can one feel safe with such a system at the Central railway station”, asked Akash Saini, a railway passenger. When contacted, the Government Railway Police (GRP) staff on the spot pointed out the lack of staff strength against a the huge number of footfalls, making it difficult for them to manage.
While numerous calls to CMRL officials went unanswered, Southern Railway officials said they have installed CCTV cameras to meet the shortage of GRP and RPF staff. “The camera surveillance is monitored round the clock. We are planning to raise the number of security staff from 170 at the Chennai Central and 70 in Egmore to 200 and 100 respectively,” an official said.
