West region airports on high alert

Mumbai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI)has decided to tighten security measures at some 20 non-metro airports across the western region by undertaking 'discreet checking' of the registered luggage of passengers. Similar measures are already in place at Mumbai airport."Explosive-tracking detectors" (ETD) will be used in this exercise as airports have been identified as soft targets for terrorists. "Registered luggage" comprises baggage that is handed over to the airline staff at the counter and goes into the hold.AAI general manager (security) Gyaneshwar Singh held a meeting with the airport directors of 20-odd airports at Ahmedabad on December 11 to discuss security-related issues at the airports.The airport directors were advised to start using the ETDs to scan the registered luggage to detect explosives that may havemissed detection by the X-ray machines, an AAI official said.The non-metro airports in the western region which would be covered are located in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. Pune airport director Deepak Shastri confirmed that he has issued directives to his staff to start using ETDs. "We are using ETDs in random checking of about 20% of the registered luggage at our airport," he said.
16/12/09 Ranjan Dasgupta/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009, Safety Dec 2009