X-Ray devices, door frames hardly used

KOLKATA: Scanning of baggage, a critical safety protocol to detect weapons and explosives, is being done at only nine of the 24 metro stations in the city. A Metro Railway official acknowledged that several machines were not in operation.
Security in metro stations the world over was beefed up after the London tube bombing in July 2005. A series of explosions in Mumbai's suburban railway network the following year brought the threat closer home.Earlier this month, crude bombs ripped a compartment near Titagarh, on the city's outskirts.
At the Metro Railway that runs along the city's north-south corridor, only the station at Noapara does not have an X-ray machine. All the rest have the machines in place but with only one in every three in operation, the underground railway service is left extremely vulnerable.
During the week, TOI checked out the X-ray machines at each station and found that they were lying wrapped with a silver-colour sheet in several stations. Even in stations where the machine was visible, there are no monitors to screen the contents of the baggage. According to the metro official, many machines were out of order as parts were not available and the maintenance contract had expired. The X-ray machines, each costing Rs 16 lakh, were installed around five years ago.
“The supplier is unable to arrange for parts to repair the machines. Hence, we have to replace them. We are in the process of procuring new machines,” said Metro Railway spokesperson R N Mahapatra.
Though he claimed that hand-held metal detectors were being used to check bags, anyone who commutes by Metro knows that the security is sloppy at best. Securitymen posted at the entry points mostly sit idle with the metal detector in hand as passengers enter unimpeded. The checks that do happen are random and arbitrary. While some male passengers are frisked, women walk into the station unchecked despite the presence of female security personnel.
The door frame metal detector (DFMD) is installed at all entry points but with commuters skirting them during rush hour, they are no deterrent either. Even in lean hours like afternoons, security men saw commuters saunter by unchecked.
Metro Railway general manager Radhey Shyam acknowledged that a number of X-ray machines were out of order and said it wasn’t possible to manually frisk every passenger. “The checks that are conducted may appear random but RPF personnel posted at the stations know whom to check and whom to let go,” he said.
Mustafaque Hardiswala, a student of Bhawanipore Gujarati Education Society, said the X-ray machine at Chandni Chowk station had been lying defunct for the past four months. “Even when I’m carrying a bag, security persons do not ask me to even walk through the DFMD. Metro is my only mode of commute and I feel that this lack of security is very risky,” he said.
The list of things to carry and what is prohibited is also unclear, unlike the airport where the embargoed items are clearly mentioned. Unlike metros in other cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, passengers are barred from carrying luggage in Kolkata. Jessica Baumard, a resident of France who is working in Kolkata for the past seven months, was stopped at Kalighat Metro Station before she could punch her ticket for simply being a foreigner. “In my country, we simply go through a metal detector door frame that is connected to the control room. Our luggage is never the problem.”
The metro official argued that the service in Kolkata was only meant for passenger commute and not luggage. With no clear guideline on what size of bag is to be allowed, it is often at the discretion of the guard at the entrance to the particular station. The Delhi metro that connects both the airport and New Delhi railway station allows bags. When asked if bags will be allowed once the metro connects to the airport, the official said no decision has been taken yet.