CISF to provide Victoria Memorial with security as tight as Taj Mahal

KOLKATA: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is planning the security of Victoria Memorial (VM) in the same way as that of Taj Mahal in Agra.

However, the CISF will keep in mind the ethos and culture of the city before putting in place the security that will be divivded in zones. CISF took over the security of the Memorial from Monday in presence of Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

The token key was handed over by curator of VM Jayanta Sengupta to Inspector General (CISF), North East AN Mohapatra.

Mohapatra feels that the security at VM will be more challenging as the green space around the memorial is used as a space for relaxation and people also carry food inside the premises.

"We have to keep in mind that this is a public place and there should be no intrusion of privacy. So, we are working out to put a systematic arrangement of security in place. We have plans to declare the Memorial a plastic free zone for which we are holding talks with the authorities," Mohapatra said.

Elaborating on the security, he added that the security at the gate will be manual which will involve checking identity of visitors. The actual frisking will be at the entrance of the monument where bags will be checked. "Men will be allowed to enter only with purse, mobile or camera after proper procedures and women may be allowed to carry a small handbag. The baggage will be deposited at the cloak room," a senior CISF official said adding that a total of 113 personnel of all ranks will be in charge of security.

About a dozen lady officers of all ranks are among the security staff and three of them will be deployed all the time, especially for checking female visitors.

It may be mentioned that CISF has three zonal security arrangements at Taj Mahal that is divided into green zone, yellow zone and red zone. The green zone is outside the monument, the yellow is a restricted zone while the red zone is inside the monument.

CISF will also be taking over the security of the Indian Museum hopefully by this year in summer. The arrangement for accommodation of the jawans is a major challenge and the authorities are working on it.