Airport security system in limbo

According to CISF,the Rs 35-crore project — “comparable with the best in the world” — triggers at least 1,500 false alarms a day on an average,and “causes a drain on the resources”. Sources said even the slightest wind could trigger an alarm in the four layered high-tech system. The CISF said it had written to DIAL,informing them that the agency could not take charge of the system till all its problems were rectified.

But,DIAL insists that such alarms cannot be termed as “false”. A DIAL official said,“That it responds to the slightest wind is untrue. Whenever a maintenance worker accidentally enters the perimeter wall,the alarm goes off. The cameras are powerful enough to focus on that area and rule out any threat.”

In 2007,the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had made it mandatory for all airports in the country to have a PIDS. But,so far,only the GMR-run airports in Hyderabad and Delhi have installed and operationalised the system.

The PIDS was to be installed in the IGIA by October 2010,in time for the Commonwealth Games. But the deadline was pushed to 2011-end. In a report to the Civil Aviation Ministry,DIAL blamed poor quality of work,inferior equipment of the vendor and unavailability of power for the delay.