With its flagship hotel in Mumbai under siege, the Taj group decided to secure the one in Kolkata . The others also followed the suite. At Taj Bengal in Alipore, even the hotel staff were subjected to metal detectors and their bags were thoroughly checked. “We have increased the number of security personnel and our security chief is thoroughly checking the system,” said an official of hotel. The Grand, on the busy Chowringhee Road, kept one of its main gates shut since Wednesday night allowing cars to enter only through one gate. Besides checking the undercarriage of the vehicles, there was stringent checking of interiors as well. The number of security guards have been doubled at the front gate and the porch and in addition to security personnel, hotel authorities are also present there to identify the in-house guests and outsiders. Additional police posting has been provided outside the hotels and even those who were not living in the hotel were checked with metal detectors. The Park Hotel on Park Street has cancelled all its banquet programmes. There is a thorough checking of luggage. “Security has been beefed up at the hotel. The attendance of employees is normal and there is no panic,” said Ranju Alex, Rooms Division Manager, Oberoi Grand. “We cannot run away. I am an American and I have seen 9 We need to fight terrorism together,” said a guest at the Grand. Certain members of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Eastern India, however, felt the security systems need to be improved further. “None of the guest’s luggage is passed through an X-ray machine or even metal detectors. It is very simple to carry ammunition inside any of the five-star hotels,” said a member. The members said passport and visa credentials are often checked by receptionists but no thorough checking is possible as the receptionists are not trained and there is no machine to assist them. Most big hotels have luggage rooms where the guests can leave their luggage after checking out and these are also never checked. “We will have a meeting with the heads of the city hotels so that at least metal detectors can be installed at all the entrance points,” said S K Khullar, president, Hotels and Restaurants Association of Eastern India (HRAEI).“We had given several directives to the hotels in August this year. But most of the hotels did not follow them. There is a security lapse in most city hotels, including the five-star hotels,” said Commissioner of Police Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti. Flights to and from Mumbai operated as normal though security was beefed up at both the domestic and international airports. Some evening flights saw marginal cancellation by passengers. “We have increased the number of security personnel and the authorities at the immigration and other points have been asked to be extra-cautious,” said Basab Talukdar, the foreigners’ regional registration officer in Kolkata and deputy commissioner (security control).
