l Passengers heading to the station without luggage being screened l The foot over bridge no longer has metal detectors l There are several unmanned entry, exit points at the station
GUILHERME ALMEIDA
MARGAO: A lone woman Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable quietly sat behind a luggage screening devise at the Margao railway station entrance. Against the backdrop of the Chennai blast, contrary to expectations, there wasn’t any extraordinary security or vigilance stepped up at Konkan Railway Corporation’s Margao railway station – considered a soft terror target given Goa’s status as a tourist holiday destination.
A visit to the railway station revealed that it was not uncommon to find passengers heading to the station without their luggage being screened by the devise in place at the entrance. Nor, were the two metal detectors sending any beeps as people moved in and out of the station premises at will.
The worst security scenario was yet to come. On the foot over bridge connecting the Aquem side of the railway station to Platform No One and Two, no security was in place at all, till the Delhi bound Rajdhani Express chugged in at the station when a lone RPF constable stood guard near the staircase leading to platform No 2. The foot over bridge does no longer play host to metal detectors for want of manpower to man them.
RPF officials in the know conceded in private that manpower shortage have come in the way of ensuring full proof security at the Margao railway station. “Only in times of Sagar Kavach and mock drills, we take extra caution on the security front. But, the manpower constraints have hit our security arrangements,” informed a senior RPF official.
That’s not all. Both the RPF and the Konkan railway police officials in private admit that metal detectors alone would not help screen miscreants entering the station premises. They say that there are around seven unmanned entry and exit points at the Margao railway station which needs to be plugged on top priority. “We have identified these entry and exit points. Unless the KRC moves in to plug these entry and exit points, any number of metal detectors will not reign in miscreants making their entry at the railway station”, remarked a senior Goa police officer, attached to the Konkan Railway police station.
To tide over the manpower constraints, the RPF is toying with the idea of approaching the Goa police to make available personnel from the IRB, besides Home Guards to tone up the security at the railway stations. “The proposal would soon go to the Goa police. If accepted, it will help tone up patrolling at the railway stations in Goa”, the RPF officer added.
