[ Yuvraj Mehta ]
NAHARLAGUN, Jul 31: At a time when security arrangements are being strengthened at all railway stations and airports, the lone railway station of Arunachal Pradesh, in Borum village here, has none since its inauguration in April 2014.
With Arunachal Pradesh sharing international borders with China, Bhutan and Myanmar, security arrangements in the state should be world-class. Unfortunately, several lapses have been found at the railway station here.
None of the 16 CCTV cameras installed by the state government is functional, informed SI Bindu Adhikari, while a baggage scanner, which was brought a long time back from the Lumding railway station in Assam, is yet to be installed.
When contacted, railway officials stationed at Rangapara, Assam, informed that the scanner, which was provided to the railway police force of the Naharlagun railway station, was a used one and not working.
The railway police under the state government and the Railway Protection Force are deployed at the railway station, but are unable to check baggage or frisk passengers due to lack of security equipment like metal detectors, scanners and working CCTV cameras.
They are currently only engaged in checking inner line passes.
All passengers enter and exit without any problem, which can be a serious threat to many innocent lives. Any suspicious passenger can safely hoodwink the handful police personnel and board the train. Persons who wish to create mischief can even go to the Gumto station and board the train without being frisked at all.
During the last visit of Union MoS for Railways Rajen Gohain to the Naharlagun railway station, he had told reporters that the states have to maintain the security of their respective railway stations.
But even with RPF personnel, the lack of security equipment makes detection of unwanted articles difficult.
With the National Register of Citizens list of Assam out, and over 40 lakh people not making it into the list, there is probability of heavy influx into Arunachal Pradesh, as well.
The railway ministry had said that “all stations are being equipped with scanners and CCTV cameras so that everything is under an electronic eye.”
But the Naharlagun railway station is clearly lagging behind.
