BHUBANESWAR: Despite a substantial rise in air connectivity in Odisha, the regional airports continue to be manned by the state armed police, and not specialised forces.
As of now, four regional airports in Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Jeypore and Utkela are operating under the UDAN scheme. The sanctioned strength of security personnel for these airports is 256. However, 240 personnel from Odisha State Armed Police (OSAP) and India Reserve (IR) Battalions man these facilities.
The personnel belonging to OSAP/IR Battalions are mostly engaged to maintain law and order, VIP security, election duties, disaster response, counter insurgency support and others. However, their deployment in aviation security has reportedly resulted in shortage of manpower to maintain law and order.
Recently, a proposal has been moved to deploy Odisha Industrial Security Force (OISF) at the regional airports. In a letter to the Odisha DGP, the ADG of SAP said the state government last year approved creation of three OISF Battalions - 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
While the 3rd and 4th OISF Battalions have already been earmarked to be deployed at Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), 344 personnel of the 2nd OISF Battalion’s total sanctioned strength of 917 are proposed to man the six airports in the state. If there is any additional requirement due to increase in air traffic flow, the deployment will be made from the existing strength of the 2nd OISF Battalion, read the letter.
A dedicated unit with specialised training and expertise is required to effectively discharge the security responsibilities at the regional airports for which deployment of OISF personnel is required urgently, said the letter.
Sources said the Home department will remunerate the expenses towards the deployment of OISF personnel at the six airports as per the state government’s agreement with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India (AAI).
While it is essential to deploy trained units with airport specific security skills, the OSAP/IR personnel lack the expertise to handle the emerging security challenges. OISF was specifically created to guard critical infrastructures like airports, industrial units, power plants, refineries and others. The airport security falls under high risk/value and strategically sensitive category.
The state government has planned to make Rangeilunda (Ganjam) and Dandbose (Mayurbhanj) airports operational soon under the regional connectivity scheme. As per the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), 88 personnel in various ranks should be deployed at the two proposed airports.