BENGALURU: In a public-friendly initiative, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has streamlined different categories of visitors at the Baiyappanahalli Metro station this week and made frisking of persons and luggage mandatory only for its commuters.
Inside the station, temporary barricades have come up to ensure only those who board Metro trains are subject to frisking. “We have put up temporary ones to study it and also elicit public response. We will be putting up permanent ones in a month’s time as the public have responded very positively to it,” said an official. The scanners at the station entrance too have been removed and shifted upstairs so that only the baggage of Metro commuters is checked, he added.
Pedestrians from Old Madras Road and C V Raman Nagar, which is located on one side of the station, and those from Ramamurthy Nagar, Kasturi Nagar, Sadananda Nagar and Krishnaiahanapalya on the other side use the spacious walkway passing through the station. Similarly, one can use the Metro station to reach the Baiyappanahalli railway station. So far, anyone stepping into the Metro station had to undergo physical frisking and get their baggage scanned, making it time-consuming.
A S Shankar, BMRCL Executive Director (Operations and Maintenance) told TNIE, “We have made the process easy for all since December 24. Passengers heading to the railway station to board a train can just walk through without any checks. The same applies to those who use our premises to connect with neighbouring areas.”
Hemavathy N, a private bank employee, who commutes from KGF to Baiyappanahalli for work, said, “This is a big step and really saves time standing in queues to access the railway station. It will also reduce the time lost in security checks for Metro commuters.” A security staffer said it reduced a big chunk of work for them as the station was constantly jampacked with commuters and public.
There was a bit of resistance too, like in the case of K Rajesh, a Ramamurthy Nagar resident, who visits the railway station for evening walks. “I really think checking everyone is good from the safety point of view. It is a safety risk to leave out the public entering a station unchecked like this, he added. At present, MG Road, Halasuru and Swami Vivekananda Metro stations permit people to cross the roads using the station. All Phase-II stations will have the facility.