The Hindu : Kerala News : Airport’s bomb squad gets sniffer dogs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 27, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Airport’s bomb squad gets sniffer dogs

M.P. Praveen

To cost Rs.1.25 lakh each

KOCHI: Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has become the first airport in the country to have Army-trained sniffer dogs as part of its Bomb Detection and Disposal squad.

Two 3-year-old female Labradors, named ‘Rambhi’ and ‘Paro’ were inducted into the squad on Tuesday. This was achieved after prolonged correspondence with Army headquarters, managing director of CIAL Shriram Bharath said in a press meet on Tuesday.

CIAL paid Rs. 1.25 lakh each for the dogs and they were brought here from Remount Veterinary College (RVC), Meerut, arguably the best dog-training centre in Asia.

Kennel

The dogs are to be housed in state-of-the-art kennels constructed by CIAL at a cost of Rs. 20 lakh. The kennels are air-conditioned and will have the best of the amenities. Dog handlers and kennel boys have been certified by RVC after rigorous training. Plans are also afoot to insure the dogs as the airport authorities consider them crucial in security operations.

A Standard Operating Procedure for the dog squad has been prepared by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) with the approval of the airport authorities. Meanwhile, the CIAL has already started the process to augment the strength of the dog squad as part of which two dogs are being trained in Haryana. The dogs will be used to identify RDX, plastic explosives and liquid explosives.

Earlier, when there was a bomb threat, the authorities here had to wait for the arrival of the dog squad from Thripunithura, 40 km away from the airport.

In crisis situations in the aviation sector where time is a vital factor for all stakeholders, this time lag was almost unacceptable.

The squad will be pressed into service to check suspicious or unattended baggage and also to ensure safe passage of VIP/VVIPs.

Airport Director A.C.K. Nair and CISF Commandant Rajiv Pant also attended the press meet.

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