Trespassing of people into the operational area of the Chennai airport is causing concern to authorities. In the last three years, nearly 15 cases were reported.
According to a senior Airports Authority of India official, in July this year itself, two cases of trespassing were reported. One case was reported this month.
Last week, a 45-year-old man was found loitering near bay No. 55 where an aircraft was parked. Security personnel of the airline, on seeing the stranger near the aircraft, caught and handed him over to the authorities.
In most of the cases, security authorities label the intruder “mentally unstable.” Of the total cases, the authorities dropped action in one while trial was pending in two cases. In the other cases, the offenders were let off after imposing a fine on them, the AAI official said.
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) authorities said on many occasions curious onlookers strayed into the operational area resulting in problems for takeoff or landing of flights. With the ongoing expansion works at the airport, certain places had openings through which the onlookers could enter the sterile zone.
E.P. Hareendranathan, Chennai Airport Director, said CISF personnel had been posted along the perimeter wall on all sides of the airport. They had been placed in every place where movement of strangers could be easily monitored.
A couple of years ago, a proposal to install Perimeter Intrusion Detection System was mooted. The airport was to be divided into six areas – perimeter fencing, perimeter surveillance, passenger and staff surveillance, baggage control and unattended objects, vehicle movement and access control. The system would have helped in providing better surveillance. It was dropped owing to shortage of funds, say AAI authorities.
