Metro security: Govt mulling over 2,100 more CISF troops

The government is mulling to increase the the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) troops by over 2,100 to guard the Delhi Metro, which faces around 26 lakh footfall daily. The ever-increasing footfall of passengers has put a strain on the existing manpower, which is duty-bound to ensure their security. 

The CISF has submitted a proposal in this regard to the Union Home Ministry.

As per official data, while the total existing deployment strength of the central paramilitary forces to secure the Delhi Metro network is 4,869, the augmentation proposal under consideration of the Home Ministry is 2,120 additional CISF men and women. The proposal has been prepared in coordination with central security agencies, it said.

Officials said this strength is the minimum required to effectively secure the fully operational phase I and II of the Metro and it is expected that the Home Ministry will soon give its final sanction for the new manpower.

Officials said last year’s incident wherein a man managed to sneak in a pistol and used it to shoot himself at the busy Rajiv Chowk Metro station is a major incident that has underlined the need to have more troops on ground to check crowds at Metro premises.

Soon after the incident, the CISF and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) undertook a drive to increase the height of side gates separating unpaid and paid areas of the stations so that no passenger managed to take an unchecked material or bag from the gates.

“The CISF also deploys spotters in plain clothes at vulnerable locations at the stations to check these incidents. But with an increasing load of passengers and introduction of new stations in these two phases, both human and technical resources are under strain,” said a senior Home Ministry official involved in Delhi Metro security operations.

He added: “Fresh manpower will definitely help in mounting an effective vigil.” 

“The proposal is under active consideration of the Ministry and it should be cleared soon with may be a few changes in the numbers demanded,” the official said.

The force also plans to use the new manpower in keeping a bird eye’s view on the outer peripheries of these stations and enhance its patrols and quick reaction teams to sanitise areas like parking lots and main entry and exit points from the point of anti-terror strike surveillance.

The Delhi Metro network covers Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon with over 150 stations between these locations.