Title - Major Central Railway stations in Mumbai to get superior security cover

MUMBAI: Important stations of Central Railway in Mumbai division will get superior security cover as the agency appointed to implement the Integrated Security System (ISS) has identified the locations were Closed Circuit Television Camera (CCTVs), scanners, etc will be installed.

A senior CR official said, "More than 784 high resolution CCV camera will be installed at six important railway station in Mumbai - CST, Dadar, Kurla, LTT, Thane and Kalyan as part of ISS worth Rs 25 crore."

CR has estimated that all these facilities will be in place at stations in Mumbai division within nine months.

The official said, "Even without ISS, we do have in place a total of 994 cameras at various locations. . Many of the old CCTV cameras, working on analog technology, will now be replaced with new ones operating on digital technology."

Apart from CCTV, the Mumbai division will also get eight vehicle scanners, 11 heavy-duty baggage scanners, two portable baggage scanners, 85 multi-axle doorframe metal detectors, 426 handheld metal detectors and one explosive disposal unit at CST. A Vapour detector system will be provided at CST that can help identify material used in making of explosive.

The ISS was formulated in July 2008, even before the attacks, and was to be mplemented by March 2010. Central Railway floated the tender for the ISS in July 2011 to implement the ISS in CST and other Mumbai stations.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in its report for the year 2011-12 had criticized the railways for delay in implementing the ISS at CST where 52 people were gunned down within the station concourse in a 25-minute shooting spree by terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan on November 26, 2008.