Title - Security derailed at city railway station Multiple illegal entrances, ill-equipped scanning equipmen

Ludhiana: The Ludhiana railway station continues to be in a state of low preparedness to counter terror threats. Reason: Multiple unmanned entrances, ill-equipped scanning equipment and lack of adequate security personnel.Due to inadequate seating arrangement, passengers forced to sit on a platform.A total of 40 trains carrying thousands of people arrive or depart from the city railway station and the daily passenger traffic is about 60,000 people on an average. But are the passengers safe? Consider this: The number of security personnel at the city railway station is not more 15. And there are not more than five to six security personnel at a given point of time at the station despite the increase in the number of trains and passengers. Surprisingly, not even a single policeman was there at the main entrance of the railway station today.There are no security checks at the entry and exit points at the railway station. Anyone can easily enter the railway station complex. A small obsolete dysfunctional piece of equipment lies at the rear entrance of the railway station in a suitcase. This is being used as metal detector.There is only one CCTV camera at the railway station and it covers four locations, said a Government Railway Police official. The screen on which the footage is seen is of a small size and viewing three-four shots simultaneously is not possible. The CCTV footage is not being recorded. A policeman admitted that the footage of at least past week should be kept and recorded.

"There is little in the name of security here. Anybody can come without any checks," said Ram Sharan, a daily commuter. "We are talking about world-class facilities like Metro in the city, but hardly any attention is being paid to improve the existing infrastructure at the railway station," he added.

"The security at the railway station is beefed up whenever some untoward incident takes place, but things are back to square one after some days. One can hardy see a security personnel at the railway station," said Amarjit Singh, a commuter.

"The metal detector and safety equipment have been sent for repair and would be installed shortly," said SHO Piara Singh.

"Often, people are run over by trains. The multiple entry points to the station make it impossible to restrict crossing of tracks. Though it's an offence, the practice continues unabated," said a police official.

"We are in the process of installing more CCTV cameras. New security equipment will also be in place soon," added a railway official. 

Mad scramble for boarding train

There are no security personnel to prevent the mad scramble by passengers for boarding a train. There should be someone to make the passengers board the train in a proper queue, said a passenger.

Limited seating arrangement

Inadequate seating arrangements continue to be pain for passengers waiting for trains. Passengers are forced to sit on the platform. "We have no choice. Sometimes trains get late by hours, but there is little space to sit. Some of the seats remain full and we have no choice but to stand and wait," said Nitin, a city resident.