A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has taken strong objection to the unavailability of some crucial BDDS (Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad) equipment at five airports — Bagdogra, Guwahati, Trivandrum, Calicut and Ahmedabad.
The Committee also noted that some of the equipment are either not working or are under repair for long time. This is affecting anti-sabotage and bomb detection duties at these airports by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that secures the airports across the country.
The Committee also raised concerns that the dogs with the CISF are not taken good care of as the canines on duty are seen to have skin diseases, look pale and seem to be not fit for duty.
"Since the Ministry is providing sufficient funds for maintenance/training of dogs, the Committee strongly recommends that the Ministry mist look into the matter and instruct the CISF to assess the health of all the canines with the force and take remedial measures, if necessary," the Committee noted in its report.
The Committee also recommended that the funds meant for the dog squad should be utilised fully and properly to maintain the canines and to prevent them from contracting seasonal skin diseases such as eternal parasites, ticks and lice.
"The Committee is at pains to observe that in the absence of such crucial and essential equipment, the Aviation Security Group is not operational at these airports, therefore, the CISF faces acute problem in performing anti-sabotage and bomb detection duties at these airports," the report noted on the lack of BDDS equipment at the five airports.
The Committee recommended that the Home Ministry should "appropriately" intervene and take up the matter with Airport Operators, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to meet the requirements of CISF at these five airports on priority.
The Home Ministry should also take up the matter urgently for providing adequate number of BDDS equipment required at 22 hyper-sensitive and international airports without delay.
