The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Lacuna in city’s security set-up Law & order

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Saturday, Aug 16, 2008
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Lacuna in city’s security set-up Law & order

Staff Reporter

Many projects meant to support the tightening of security are hanging fire.

KOCHI: Security personnel might have heaved a sigh of relief as the Independence Day passed off without any untoward incident.

But a rough audit of the security reveals that much need to be done. Mostly, it is providing infrastructure support to the personnel on duty.

On the face of it, the City Police appear confident about meeting exigencies. “A district action plan, which clearly outlines roles of different agencies involved, is ready.

A review meeting will be held in a couple of days on readiness to meet emergencies,” said Manoj Abraham, City Police Commissioner.

The City Police are also working along with individual agencies like Cochin Port for enhancing security.

What troubles the force most would probably be the slow speed in which infrastructure support is given to their efforts.

Many projects meant to support the tightening of security are hanging fire. One of the key proposals was to set up proper check-posts at entry points to the city.

Besides monitoring the inflow towards the city, it is expected to have an impact on checking crimes like stealing of vehicles.

Even though the Commissioner maintains that the force is handling the border-sealing without equipment support, the efficiency of the system remains low.

Similarly, the proposal to set up surveillance cameras at main points in the city and linking up private surveillance cameras to the Control Room is also being delayed due to technicalities.

Lack of infrastructure and inherent social constraints are posing an equally serious challenge to railway stations.

“The greatest challenge and threat that we face at railway station is inability to have access control. For example, the Ernakulam South Railway Station is too open to control the crowd coming in,” said one of the officials of the Railway Protection Force.

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