27 July,2011 07:00 AM IST | | Parth Satam
Virtually no security checks on thousands of parcels loaded and unloaded from trains at station everyday
The Indian Railways has two types of passengers, one human and the other inanimate. And surprisingly the second category probably poses a greater security risk than the former. Parcels and packages, which are transported through the Railways on a massive scale countrywide, have virtually no security checks when they are loaded and unloaded from trains.
What's in there? Parcels at the Pune railway station. While people are
screened at the railway station, manpower and other issues prevent this
from happening with parcels. Pic/Krunal Gosavi
Officials from both the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the parcels department at the Pune Railway Station plead helplessness in overcoming this problem. They point to the infrastructural limitations as well as impracticality of checking each and every parcel.
Although the station now has a sound security system for regular passengers with X-ray machines and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, the parcels department, located towards the end of the of the first platform, has a truckload of packages destined for various parts of the country and where the parcels department officials carry out regular paperwork.
An official from the department, requesting anonymity, said the security risk was genuinely grave but nothing could be done. "There is no peak hour for parcels, the load is uniform throughout the year. The least we can do is check the bikes and other vehicles that are also transported through the railways before packing them with protective cover, as these are relatively easier to check. But the tight schedule doesn't allow this," said another official from the department, also requesting anonymity.
An RPF official, acknowledging the concern, however said that suspected parcels could be opened and checked by officials. "Once the package finishes documentation and enters the railway premises, it is railway property until it is collected by its owner. We rely on intelligence inputs and simple information sharing from other agencies to identify such packages," said the official. The station sees a parcel load of 60 tonnes to 70 tonnes everyday, with each tonne being 200 packages on an average.
Central Railway (CR) Public Relations Officer (PRO) Y K Singh refused to comment on the issue. RPF Divisional Security Officer Ashok Singh admitted the grim situation, and assured concerted efforts would be made to tackle it. "A dog squad visits the station twice a day along with plain-clothed officers eyeing suspicious movements. A close watch is also kept on porters and other staff. We are also experiencing manpower issues. Meetings with the Government Railway Police are also held for better policing," said Singh.
