http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=1 <http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=1&articleid=11520062 322028111520062305315> &articleid=11520062322028111520062305315 Coming soon: City's biggest security check Every commuter entering or leaving Churchgate station and CST will be frisked during peak hours on Nov 12, 13 and 14 Binoo Nair
Mumbai is all set to witness the biggest security check in its train history. On November 12, 13 and 14, each and every commuter coming into or stepping out of Churchgate station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) will be frisked by railway officials in an effort to find out if such a mammoth exercise is indeed possible if the need arises. Crucially, the frisking will happen during morning and evening peak hours, when a crowd of 1,300 to 1,500 enters both stations by the minute. Between them, the two stations see 25 lakh commuters every day. Apart from checking the feasibility of the exercise, the railways want answers to two questions: 1) is it possible to frisk at least one out of five people every day, and 2) is it possible to have airport-type stringent security at a railway station? The drill, railway officials feel, will help find these answers because the difficulties involved will reveal possibilities. If at least 20% of commuters are frisked every day, most commuters would be checked in a week's time as a majority of them are regulars, railway officials feel. "20% per cent frisking is a credible deterrent even abroad," an official who did not wish to be named said. Records show that at present, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and railway police frisk only about 15,000 people every day at Churchgate and CST though the total number of commuters on either line is over 32 lakh. Men and machines for the drill The idea for the exercise emerged during a security review meeting held by the state chief secretary recently, officials said, adding that multiple agencies -- Mumbai police, Central intelligence agencies, RPF, railway police and the Central Industrial Security Force (that provides security to airports) -- have come together to make it work. The agencies are currently working out the maths and buying equipment. "At Churchgate alone, we will need about 250 RPF officers and an equal number of railway police officers to conduct the exercise," a Western Railway official said. CST needs far greater strength as it is more porous, a Central Railway official said. While Churchgate has just four platforms with 13 entrances, CST has 17 platforms, 16 'official' entrances, an adjoining yard, outer roads and many more unauthorised entrances. "About 15 lakh people use the suburban section in CST and around 60,000 use the long-distance train platforms. At the moment there are 12 frisking desks set up by railway police, but for this drill we will require more than 300 constables and several more railway metal detectors. It will all be worked out before November 9, when all agencies meet again to give finishing touches to the plan," the CR official noted. Railway security agencies have started hiring the security equipment that would be needed. "About 40 door-frame metal detectors, 20 walkie-talkies for internal communication, 35 hand-held metal detectors and two dogs on shifts are being brought for the Churchgate drill," a senior WR official said. However, WR officials said it was not certain if they would be able to procure eight x-ray machines that would be needed to examine every piece of luggage. The machines are priced at Rs 83 lakh each, and getting so much money at such short notice will not be easy, officials noted, adding that hiring was also not possible as nobody had extra machines to spare. The ones at the airport are also far too bulky and are needed there full-time, officials said. FAIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The Copyright Act of 1976. "Fair Use" legally eliminates the need to obtain permission or pay royalties for the use of previously copyrighted materials if the purposes of display include "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research." Section 107 establishes four criteria for determining whether the use of a work in any particular case qualifies as a "fair use". A work used does not necessarily have to satisfy all four criteria to qualify as an instance of "fair use". Rather, "fair use" is determined by the overall extent to which the cited work does or does not substantially satisfy the criteria in their totality. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. COPYING AND DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
