Mumbai: Airport authorities conduct first mock security drill at T2

To check the coordination and preparedness of security agencies at T2, airport officials conducted a mock drill for the very first time at the new international terminal on Friday

To check the coordination and preparedness of security agencies at T2 and for better handling of emergency situations, airport officials conducted a mock drill for the very first time at the new international terminal on Friday.

To check the coordination and preparedness of security agencies at T2, airport officials conducted a mock drill for the very first time at the new international terminal on Friday

Personnel from CISF, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), immigration, airlines like Air India, Jet Airways and Emirates, local police and a few of the ground handling agencies were involved in the exercise.

The drill
The operation began at 1.30 pm and ended at 3 pm. As part of the plan, a security alarm was raised when an unidentified bag was spotted in the in zone M of the check-in area. Following the Standard Operating Procedure, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Solution team arrived within a few minutes.

Viewing this as a possible threat, the evacuation of the entire T2 began at 2 pm. After thorough checking by the BDDS team, the bag was declared safe within half and hour and the drill was called off in 40 minutes. Around 20 policemen were stationed at the city side of the departure area (level 4).

Official speak
A senior airport official said, “MIAL and the local police, along with the airlines and airport staff, were all involved in this drill. The aim of this was to learn to tackle such situations and make the ground handling and other staff prepared for it.”

Another airport official added, “Passengers were evacuated to both city side as well as airside of the airport. Those who were yet to check in and the ones waiting in the arrivals area were taken to the city side, and the passengers who had checked in were all shifted to airside.”

“During this drill, Zero time was implemented throughout the drill, so that none of the passengers were affected while checking into their respective airlines. This procedure has been taking place every year at the international airport, but it was conducted for the first time at T2 and was aimed at making every individual learn how to tackle emergencies.”

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