Nagpur: The Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport is on high alert along with other airports across the country after intelligence warnings of terror attack. Still, despite having gadgets like IP cameras the airport continues to be vulnerable.
Airport officials said Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), mandated with securing the airport, has a limited manpower to handle the gadgets and conduct checks. CISF has been making do with about half the manpower needed for the last five years. The required strength at the airport is 494 personnel but there are only around 254 present. Interestingly, CISF's strength has remained same since 2002 while the passenger traffic in this period has almost tripled.
In last five years, air traffic rose to almost 29 flights a day from just a handful. Almost 2000 passengers arrive and take off from city airport each day. Hardly 50 to 55 security personnel remain available in any given 8-hour shift to manage the security of entire airport area. "We need people to man security equipment. Also, vigilance is a strenuous task and often during such threats available manpower is stretched. An over-worked official is likely to make errors and overlook vital threats," said an airport security official requesting anonymity.
During high alert, which are common these days, the personnel are supposed to manually check all hand baggage.
01/10/11 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India
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