Radiation counter opens at Chennai airport but yet to hear a bleep

Chennai: Some 15 airline passengers who have travelled from Japan have been screened for radiation at Chennai airport on Thursday. EP Hareendranath, director of Chennai airport, said that a dedicated counter has been opened for radiation screening at the international arrival terminal and officials will be available there round the clock. "The screening procedure is on and no suspected cases have been reported," he said.
Thirty-one trained officials from the CISF's Recruit Training Centre have been deployed at the airport since Thursday night following a circular issued by the ministry of civil aviation to all international airports in the country. The screening mission, coordinated by National Disaster Management Authority, has designated eight officials to screen passengers at a time.
A senior airport official told TOI that the core team of CISF specially trained in radiation detection and similar emergencies is closely watching all the passengers flying from the eastern region. " We are mainly screening passengers arriving in Chennai from Hong Kong and Singapore sectors. Though we do not have a direct service connecting Japan, we are tracing passengers' travel log as they might be taking a connection flight from the above destinatons to reach Chennai," said the official.
A CISF official who was present at the screening counter on Thursday night told TOI that a few passengers have been traced as flying from Japan, either coming directly or had been there during the disaster.
19/03/11 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Mar 2011