The Railway Board has sanctioned Integrated Security Systems for 11 stations in Bengal, including seven in Kolkata. Broadcasting Engineering Consultant India, a PSU, has been engaged to install the CCTV systems and other equipment at these stations. Work will start shortly at Sealdah, Howrah, Bidhannagar, Ballygunge, Majerhat, Dum Dum, Kolkata (Chitpur), Durgapur, Asansol, Burdwan and Malda, V K Dhaka, IG and chief security commissioner, Railway Protection Force, Eastern Railway, said.
“The tender process for Under Vehicle Surveillance Systems is on. Training for the first batch of 32 RPF personnel has already started at the Eastern Frontier Rifles’ training centre in Salua, West Midnapore. We already have 187 trained commandos. Two separate commando units of 30 personnel each have also been planned for Metro Railway and Chittaranjan Locomotive Works,” Dhaka said. The railways ministry is paying special attention to security, particularly of women, at railway stations under ER. It has been decided to install CCTV systems at 236 stations in this zone. No other zone has so many stations that will have these systems.
The work has been included in the ‘Nirbhaya Fund’. The RPF also plans to get four more security dogs. It already has 37 dogs, 32 of which are sniffers and the remaining trackers. “We are taking special measures for security of women passengers. ER has asked for 198 more women RPF personnel. We are also raising awareness among passengers about our 182 helpline. This has been functioning round-the-clock at the RPF’s divisional control rooms,” Dhaka added.
