The terror attack at Pathankot Air Force base in Punjab early on Saturday morning should be a wake-up call for the government as the security personnel deployed at the Gannavaram airport are ill-equipped to handle such incidents.
At least half-a-dozen VVIPs, bureaucrats and other dignitaries are flying in and out of Vijayawada and upcoming capital region everyday attending meetings and other programmes.
Industrialists and foreigners are also coming in good numbers to enquire about business prospects. In addition, the chopper being used by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to visit districts is parked at the airport. But the policemen at Gannavaram airport are not trained to deal with terrorist strikes, according to officials.
They said the State government has to rely on OCTOPUS and National Security Guards (NSG), both stationed in Hyderabad in case of any such eventuality.
As many as 200 police personnel are working on shift basis from 5 a.m. to 9.p.m. Armed with Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) and 9 mm carbines, the policemen are posted at the apron, VIP area, main entrance and other strategic locations in and around the airport.
A senior official said the existing policemen were trained in tackling extremist attacks only. Sources said the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel will soon start guarding Gannavaram airport instead of city police, who are presently handling the security duties. Representatives from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the CISF Southern Command jointly conducted an inspection of the airport last year and took stock of the situation.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has finalised the modalities and efforts are on to provide accommodation to CISF men. The AAI is convening a meeting with senior officials shortly to complete formalities before deploying the CISF. The height of perimeter wall was also raised in tune with the standards prescribed by the BCAS. Barbed wire fencing was also placed to restrict entry of unauthorised persons into the airport, according to officials.
Close to 1,000 passengers depend on over 16 services operated from the airport everyday, with the first flight taking off at around 7.15 a.m. and the last landing around 9.30 p.m. Air Costa, SpiceJet and national carrier Air India are operating daily services, authorities added.
