Daunting task for Railways to seal station like airport

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 9

The proposed national policy for sealing railway stations on the lines of airports will be a daunting task for the local railway station authorities.

Many attempts to reconstruct the boundary wall have failed in the past.

The boundary wall from the Gol Bagh side continues to remain broken. Commuters demolish it to make an illegal passage to enter the railway station. It offers a challenging task for the security forces guarding the railway station.

A daily passenger, Himanshu Dhawan, said most of the entry and exit gates at the railway station were without cops. He said generally these gates could be found unguarded.

He said, “In the presence of security forces, illegal entry of passengers can be spotted at the main entrance gate. Besides, there are two more entry gates, one at the parcel room side and another at the general waiting hall side.”

He said the cops deployed at the railway station did not have adequate metal detectors to guard all the entry and exit gates.

Besides, another main entry to the railway station is from Gol Bagh side, which is near to the walled city. Because of the lesser flow of commuters at this gate, even the railways station authorities seem to have forgotten to deploy any security guard at this gate. However, in the absence of security, the gate seems to be a boon for any miscreant, who fears to enter through the main gate.

A visitor at the railway station, Simardeep Singh, said, “Anybody with ill-motive can enter the railway station through the demolished wall portion. What is the motive to deploy guards when anybody can gain entry from the demolished wall?” he questioned.

It is common to see passengers jumping off trains even before they reach the platform to give a slip to ticket checkers through demolished wall.

Similarly, people in order to avoid being detected by the excise authorities throw their merchandise from moving trains to slip out of the cavity in the wall.

Local railway station officiating director Amrit Singh said the station was being run on semi-open system so disproportionate action couldn’t be taken. The authorities have repaired the damaged portion of the wall many a times. After the introduction of the policy, many measures can be taken to safeguard it, including installation of the CCTVs.