Integrated security: 78 stations on map,6 upgraded

Planned by the Ministry of Railways several months before the 26/11 attacks,the Integrated Security System (ISS) for the railways may have strengthened security to some extent,but of the 78 stations on CR’s suburban section,the stepped-up security measures under the multi-crore project have been restricted to a mere six major stations: CST,Dadar,Kurla,Lokmanya Tilak Terminus,Thane and Kalyan.

Under the four-module ISS,the railways were to get CCTV cameras,perimeter-wall fencing and vehicle scanners,baggage-screening systems and explosive detection and disposal systems. The CR put the Rs 250 crore project on a priority after 26/11 and floated tenders for a build-own-operate-and-transfer model but received a poor response. Priority work was to cost Rs 60 crore,but the CR has got only Rs 23 crore. “In the first phase,we have only six stations considering the crowd there,” said Shriniwas Mudgerikar,chief spokesperson for CR.

Western Railway (WR) plans to buy a robot that can help defuse bombs in trains. “We should soon procure it,” said Lalit Kumar,chief security commissioner.

Under a Rs 19-crore ISS plan,WR has started procuring Internet protocol-based CCTV cameras,X-ray machines and a vehicle scanner for 28 stations from Churchgate to Virar. In a lesson from 26/11,it has also started replacing .303 rifles (used for unsuccessfully shooting at Kasab at CST) with modern weapons.