The security plan of Cyberabad for the 19-day-long CoP 11, which ended on Friday, involved deployment of huge forces and usage of high-end security gadgets. But the idea of giving passwords to officers escorting delegates from hotels to the meeting venue in Madhapur helped them check possible intrusion of trouble-mongers inside.
Providing foolproof security for over 9,000 delegates from different countries attending the biodiversity meet - the biggest international event ever held in the city - was surely a challenge. Since the delegates have to travel from their hotels to the venue daily, ensuring their safety along the route was even more tough task.
Hence, it was planned to ply the delegates from accommodation points to the meeting halls in 240 special buses. Yet the possibility of agitators or terrorists reaching the venue in similar vehicles could not be ruled out. “To check this, we devised the plan of giving password to each officer escorting the delegates in the vehicle,” Cyberabad Police Commissioner Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao told The Hindu on Friday. The passwords comprise specific words - mostly names - and colour of the stickers pasted on the vehicles. The details are given to the escorting officers in a sealed cover. The security officers at the NAC Gate - the only entry point to CoP 11 venue - will open the cover and allow the bus inside only if the colour code and passwords match.
Govinda, Bruhaspati and Shiva were some of the passwords used by them. Worried about leakage of password if the same one is used all through the 19 days, the police changed them daily for increased safety. Notwithstanding availability of huge contingents of policemen for deployment, screening delegates coming from different countries courteously and quickly was a biggest challenge, the Commissioner felt. To overcome this, multiple baggage scanners, door-frame and hand-held metal detectors and ID card identifiers were used. Anticipating different situations like delegates forgetting priority pass or travel documents, police evolved comprehensive security plan working out minute details. Preparations for the mega event began nearly a year ago.
The first meeting between the Cyberabad police and the United Nations Department of Safety and Security officials (UNDSS) was held in November, 2011. This was followed by regular correspondence, and for past three months the entire Cyberabad police force was directly or indirectly involved in gearing up for the CoP 11
