Date:15/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/15/stories/2008091553950400.htm

New Delhi

Delhi Metro on “highest alert”

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

ON THEIR TOES: CISF personnel guarding the entrance to the Barakhamba Road Metro Station on Sunday a day after five blasts ripped across Delhi. One of the blast sites, Gopaldas building, is very close to this station.

NEW DELHI: Fifty-two-year-old Saroj Khanna was not happy taking the Delhi metro railway on Sunday, a day after the city was left shaken by the blasts. But her husband’s persistence prevailed and the couple travelled the distance between Indraprastha and New Delhi stations, arguing all along the way.

Ramesh Khanna’s insistence on travelling by the metro stemmed from the belief that the metro is just as safe or unsafe as the other modes of transport. “We cannot give up travelling because there might be a blast,” he reasoned.

Like the Khannas, several other commuters also expressed mixed sentiments. The Government and law enforcement agencies’ suspicion that the metro could have been the possible target of the terror attacks was reason enough for many to stay away. For their part, the CISF and the DMRC staff have spruced up security across all three lines. At the New Delhi station the heavy deployment of CISF personnel was hard to miss.

On the “highest alert” since the past 24 hours, security personnel were frisking and conducting manual checks of hand bags and other luggage. The scene was repeated at several other metro stations. However, despite the reassuring presence of security personnel there was a discernible dip in numbers at the otherwise busy station. Like the CISF, the DMRC too has intensified its own security mechanism.

“The station managers and in-charges have been asked to undertake an inspection of the entire station and the parking lots every two hours. They have been asked to submit a report to the Operations Control Centre,” said a DMRC official.

The frequency of announcements, alerting travellers has also been increased. Through the public address system inside the coaches and the stations, passengers are being advised to look out for abandoned baggage and report to the metro staff of any suspicious behaviour.