BENGALURU: The Access Control System (ACS) was launched at KSR Railway station as an added layer of security to keep a tab on every vehicle entering and leaving this busy station. Launched on January 26 last year, it was stopped for a few months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic but it was re-launched on August 1 this year. Now, it is not only in shambles but its operations too are erratic.
However, the contractor in-charge claims that the system stopped working only four days ago. Rakshak Securitas Pvt Ltd had been awarded a three-year contract by the Indian Rail Stations Development Corporation Limited to run the operations of the Access Control System at the main entrance and parking spaces at the station 24x7 since August. It has also bagged the contract for Pune and Secunderabad railway stations.
General Manager (South Region), Prashant Kumar Singh, told The New Indian Express, "The system stopped working only from October 17. A car hit the boom barrier gate around 12 noon and broke it. A sensor attached to it and is linked to our systems, got damaged and hence, we could not issue tokens to anybody. It has stopped working only for the last four days and will be restored by Thursday afternoon."
As per the contract, the agency needs to pay Rs 2 crore and 40 lakh annually inclusive of GST to the Railways, and it has already made its first payment, Singh added. "Unlike parking, there is not much money to be made in access control and so the agency slashed the salaries of the staff. They experienced attrition after reducing the pay. Employees who left for puja holidays are yet to turn up. Though the parking lot is functional, the ACS has not been working for atleast two weeks," a source said.
Multiple sources confirmed the access system was working on and off. "There was a problem with their hand-held devices too," a source said.
In a nutshell, this is how Access Control System works
As one enters the main entrance of the station, a boom gate bars entry. An individual with a hand-held device notes down the vehicle number and issues a token. One needs to produce this chit at a similar boom barrier gate at the exit.
If a vehicle was inside the station for 7 minutes, no charges are levied. One needs to pay pre-fixed rates of Rs 15 for every additional five minutes for two-wheelers and Rs 25 for four-wheelers.