A “holistic” security outlay for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in the Capital comprising a four-layer cordon for the Games Village and venues coupled with extensive aerial reconnaissance was unveiled by the Delhi police on Monday.
Elaborating on the security components at a press briefing, Special Commissioner of Police (Administration) Neeraj Kumar said all Games-related venues would have outer, middle, inner and exclusive levels of security.
CCTV surveillance
The outer cordon will comprise park-and-ride facility monitoring, access control measures like soft checking of tickets and surveillance through closed-circuit television cameras. In the middle cordon, spectators and visitors will be channelised to designated seats at the Games venues. Electronic surveillance apart, snipers will be deployed on rooftops.
At the inner level, tickets will be rechecked through barcode screening and snaps of the spectators taken. Vehicles of organisers, VIPs, visiting dignitaries, participants and their families will be checked through pre-allotted radio-frequency identification, under-vehicle and licence plate scanners. To prevent forcible entry, boom barriers followed by tyre-killers and road blockers will be in place.
Entry to the exclusive zone will be allowed after screening through door-frame metal and hand-held detectors, X-ray baggage scanners, manual frisking and CCTVs.
The security plan, to be executed in coordination with various civic, medical, security and intelligence agencies, will cover 12 competition venues, 15 standalone practice venues, Games Village, nine hotels for housing dignitaries, over 50 standalone parking sites, Pragati Maidan housing media and central logistical centres on Mathura Road, and the entire city in general.
To ensure real-time coordination among various agencies, a Command, Control, Communication, Coordination and Integration Centre is being set up at Delhi Police Headquarters. The agencies will remain interconnected through wireless sets, Tetra trunk system, mobile phones, landlines and hotlines.
Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and improvised explosives devices response teams will be deployed at all important locations. Apart from aerial survey by the Air Force, heli-borne assault teams will be deployed during the Games to be held from October 3 to 14 next year.
From extensive anti-sabotage checks and patrolling to deployment of plainclothesmen, bomb disposal squads, quick reaction teams, snipers and commando strike teams, the police are taking all necessary steps to ensure impregnable security -- starting from the arrival of 71 teams and dignitaries from 52 countries at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Police Commissioner Y. S. Dadwal said all policemen would be issued “non-cloneable” identity cards to prevent impersonation.
Exclusive lane
Taking lessons from the terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore earlier this year, the police will provide an exclusive lane guarded by security personnel for vehicles ferrying participants. The police have identified all possible travel routes, planned alternative routes and also devised surprise elements as a precautionary measure.
The hotels, residential complexes and parking lots will be sanitised and closed a week ahead of the Games. Antecedents of the hotel staff will be checked, food for the participants tasted by experts and escorted by security personnel. Vehicles ferrying athletes and officials will undergo anti-sabotage checks every morning, antecedents of drivers verified and fuelling done at designated parking lots. Armed commandos will accompany the teams.
At the Games Village, only designated vehicles will be allowed to ply and ferry properly-screened supplies inside the premises.
