CHENNAI: A reality check at the Central and Egmore railway stations has revealed that both terminals, thronged by thousands of people daily, are unsafe, as key pieces of security apparatus such as baggage scanners and Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMD) are not functioning.
While a baggage scanner at the entrance of the Central railway station is out-of-order, another scanner installed near the parcel office to scan consignment materials entering the railway station wields a notice that reads ‘Parcel scanner under repair’. Some DFMDs at the Egmore Railway Station are not working, rendering the station porous ahead of the Republic Day celebrations, for which security is generally beefed up to avoid untoward incidents.
“The baggage scanners have not been functioning for the past four to five days,” a security personnel posted at the entrance said. When asked about the scanner at the Parcel Office, Railway Protection Force (RPF) sources claimed the scanner was on trial for some time, but has not been officially put in use since it hasn’t been handed over to the RPF.
The premier Central Railway Station witnessed a twin bomb blast in a train that killed a woman and left 14 others injured in May 2014. As far as the Egmore Railway Station is concerned, two baggage scanners are working, but some DFMDs are not functional, particularly at the main entrance and the entrance at the north.
On an average, over three lakh people visit the Central Railway Station and about 55,000 visit the Egmore station every day, and more than 150 long-distance trains pass through these two terminals. “We witnessed a bomb blast two years ago, and unauthorised entries continue to be a matter of concern. They need to be shut at the earliest,” said M Kishore Kumar, member, Zonal Rail Users Consultate Committee.
A senior RPF official said there are some issues with the conveyor belt of the scanner at the entrance of the Central Railway Station. “It will be rectified soon. We have also decided to introduce more baggage scanners at Central,” he said. However, the official asserted that all the DFMDs at the Egmore station are functioning.