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New Delhi's IGI Airport security revamped

According to a PTI report, security at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi has been revamped with the integration of anti-sabotage detection and intrusion systems of both international and domestic terminals along with the anti-terror commando squad.

After the commissioning of the T3 Terminal on July 3, 2010 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the security of the airport will be brought under a unified monitoring system known as the Security Operations Control Centre (SOCC). 
Entry, frisking, scanning, baggage checking, anti-sabotage and quick reaction deployment will be brought under a single umbrella. The new control centre, aided by improved scanning and surveillance software and hardware, will be monitored by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which is the agency protecting the sensitive airport and its periphery. 

The ambitious and much-awaited Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PIDS) to secure 37 kms of the airport periphery from illegal intruders will also be connected to the SOCC, informed a senior airport security officer. With the security management of both the domestic and international terminals coming under an umbrella, the facility will enable a better coordination for security of passengers and other airport staff. 

A special squad of the National Security Guard (NSG) black cat commandos, stationed at a newly-built airbase next to the airport, will also be associated to the new control centre. A host of new services like the Delhi Metro's Airport link will connect to the airport and hence the multi-tasking of security drills will grow manifold. The integrated security terminal will help in achieving the daunting task. The control centre will also monitor the almost 3,000 CCTV cameras and 352 screening machines spread across the sprawling airport premises. 

The new terminal will be able to handle as many as 34 million passengers per annum against the present 26 million, as it would have eight levels with a built-up area of 5.5 million sq ft. It will have a common check-in concourse with 168 counters and 24 mobile ones apart from the most modern 'five level in-line baggage system' for faster processing. Around 5,000 CISF personnel will be deputed at the IGI airport in view of the new T3 Terminal and the forthcoming Commonwealth Games this year.