Indian airports may just become a little more secure with the government likely to accept most of the recommendations of the Technical Upgradation Committee which is going into different aspects of air security and is expected to finalise its recommendations in a couple of months.
After studying some of the best airports in the world, the committee has made several suggestions on improving security and some of those, including better X-ray machines with "threat image perception" feature, microwave sensors and closed circuit TVs (CCTVs) to monitor security at airports have already been accorded in-principle clearance by the government, a senior official said.
As part of the integrated security system for 12 airports in the country to be implemented in a phased manner, all the 1.4 lakh PICs (photo identification cards) issued to personnel authorised to enter airport buildings and terminals are being replaced with smart cards with advanced biometric sensors to prevent a breach of security, the official said. The pilot project to replace the 40,000 passes issued for Delhi airport has already started.
The closed circuit television system, which is at present only being used for passenger facilitation, would be augmented and used for security purposes also, he said.
For international flights of the state-owned carriers Air India and Indian Airlines, security personnel have been trained in passenger profiling, supposed to be the "most fool-proof" security arrangement to identify suspicious traits among passengers, the official said. However, the technique has not been applied to domestic flights as the time a passenger spends at the airport before boarding the aircraft is very low, he added.
On having sky marshals on board flights, the official said, "While airlines want sky marshals to fly on more flights, they are unwilling to bear the cost, as they earn nothing from the seats they have to release for the security personnel who pose as passengers."
The government is willing to spare more highly trained commandos, but the airlines have to be prepared to pay the price of having the sky marshals on board, he said.
