Mumbai airport strengthens its dog squads gets 10 German Shepherds on board to deter mob violence at airport
Mumbai airport strengthens its dog squads gets 10 German Shepherds on board to deter mob violence at airportu00a0
Protests at the Mumbai airport have become a regular feature and with political parties joining hands with protesters, the outcome is often violent. Knowing that private security guards deployed at airports may fail to keep a mob under control, airport authorities have turned to canines for protection. They have engaged 10 more German Shepherds, taking the total number of dogs in their protection force to 20.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
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Doggie style: The security at the Mumbai airport boasts of 20 trained dogs comprising German Shepherds, Dobermans and Labradors. file pic |
Confirming that additional dogs have been trained for the job, Ishant Sharma of Marshall Dog Training Centre, who rents out dogs to Mumbai International Airport Limitedu00a0 (MIAL), said, "What the guards cannot do, these animals can. So on days of protests extra dogs will be on duty."
The most recent of the protests was seen on Tuesday by Shiv Sena workers under the banner of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena who were joined by a few activists from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (see box). Though they were up in arms against the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the MIAL for transfer of its employees to other airports, the protests were subdued, thanks to the dog squad.
Somnath Ghuge, senior inspector, airport police station, said, "These dogs definitely create a scare and they supplement our presence."
Only a deterrent
Though trained to 'charge' on command, the dogs have been deployed only to create fear and not attack the protestors.
"The dogs are merely a deterrent. The security staff will take over once the dogs overpower a protestor," said a senior official from MIAL.u00a0u00a0u00a0
Post 26/11, more dogs have been recruited in the airport's protection force. "We have been supplying these dogs after the threat to external airport security following the 26/11 attack," Sharma said.
The protests May 2009: On May 12, Shiv Sena workers under the banner of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena and the MNS protested against the AAI and MIAL as employees were being transferred to other airports. The transfers were unavoidable as the three-year staff contract agreement between the AAI and MIAL ended last month. A Sena delegation also met the city airport director on May 4 and demanded that the transfer of the AAI employees, mostly of Grade IV class, should not be implemented until June 15.u00a0u00a0
October 2008: MNS workers along with laid off Jet Airways crew protested outside the airport
April 2008: Shiv Sena and MNS workers went on a rampage near the airport terminal damaging signboards in English while demanding new ones in Marathi
December 2007: The Airport Authority Employees' Union protested against u00a0MIAL for removal of a bus stop from outside the airportu00a0u00a0u00a0
