The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : “Master Plan for railway security on the anvil”

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Monday, Dec 15, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

“Master Plan for railway security on the anvil”

Special Correspondent

Security to be beefed up at stations in 140 non-metros identified as “hypersensitive”

VILLUPURAM: Railway stations have become soft targets for terrorists as evidenced by the recent attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai, according to R.Velu, Union Minister of State for Railways.

He told presspersons at Vikkiravandi near here on Sunday that in the wake of the Mumbai carnage and “certain unpleasant incidents elsewhere,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked the Railways to prepare a “Master Plan” for taking anti-terror and anti-sabotage measures in the railway stations across the country.

Besides the stations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, security would be beefed up at the stations in 140 non-metros identified as “hypersensitive.”

A sum of Rs. 60 crore was allotted this year for procuring modern weaponry for the Railway Protection Force (RPF). RPF personnel would be imparted commando training and dog squads would stationed at sensitive railway stations. Closed circuit television network would also be installed.

In fact, it was the CCTV network installed in Mumbai that helped in identifying the terrorists, Mr. Velu said.

Good performance

In the past four years, the Railways had performed extremely well: it not only offset losses but also generated profit, Mr. Velu said.

By the time he completes his five-year tenure, the Railways would have an aggregate surplus of about Rs. 1,00,000 crore as follows: first year – Rs. 9,000 crore, second year – Rs. 15,000 crore, third year – Rs. 20,000 crore, fourth year – Rs. 25,000 crore and fifth year – Rs. 20,000 crore.

Fare brought down

The Railways not only left freight charges undisturbed but also brought down the fare, Mr. Velu added.

In the past four years, it had taken up projects worth about Rs. 5,000 crore in Tamil Nadu, created 1,000-km new routes at the cost of Rs. 2,800 crore, converted 1,956 km track into broad gauge, completed electrification for a distance of 800 km, and sanctioned one-third of total number of railway over bridges and subways, numbering 108, to Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Velu said that the recently introduced Puducherry-Yashwantpur Garib Rath would resume regular services after administrative hiccups were cleared.

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