In what will bring relief to lakhs of Delhi Metro commuters, security check queues at busy stations such as Rajiv Chowk and Chandni Chowk are expected to get shorter soon.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards metro premises, has decided to effectively bring down the time taken to frisk passengers and check their baggage from 8-12 minutes to 5-6 minutes by deploying more personnel and gadgets at select metro stations that have a high footfall of commuters.
To speed up the frisking process, the CISF has asked Delhi Metro to provide more space to accommodate extra manpower and machines. "We will be deploying extra manpower and machines at busy stations. We have asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to give us more space at these stations so that we can enhance our logistics in order to handle the rush of passengers. We have found out that during peak time, it takes about 8-12 minutes to clear the rush of passengers. We want this to be brought down to 5-6 minutes," CISF chief Rajiv said. He added that even though there are limitations to providing additional space at busy Metro stations such as Rajiv Chowk, efforts are on to make the space available.
Pitching for a greater security to women commuters, the CISF chief said that the force has identified certain vulnerable patches in the Metro stations that need to be properly covered and brought under CCTV surveillance.
The CISF chief added that the central police force has decided to observe 2013 as year for women safety and security and a number of measures will be taken to help women in distress at these two facilities. The D-G said the force will also ensure maximum security to women at two of the most frequented public areas in the national capital, Delhi Metro and the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
Also, the force will increase the number of women guards. "We are enhancing our women manpower at these two facilities and additional batches of plainclothes personnel will patrol the Delhi Metro to ensure that women are safe," he said. At present, 5,000 men and women of the CISF guard the 134 Metro stations.
The CISF has also activated its dedicated monitoring stations in DMRC control rooms at 90 metro stations out of the total 134 it is guarding in the national capital region which include Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. The freshly introduced CISF metro helpline (011-22185555) has also started getting a number of calls related to security issues.