Don’t be surprised if you see some well-built men staging a play or breaking into a dance at any of the railway platforms on the suburban railway network. RPF men are out there at Tambaram, West Mambalam, Egmore, Chennai Central and Beach stations, spreading awareness about the dangers of carrying explosive crackers in trains through short skits. The awareness campaign is expected to reach other stations including Triplicane and Mylapore. The RPF is going all out to ring the message loud through mega phones/voice-recorders appealing to the public not to touch any unclaimed baggage or article. To attend to any emergency, an ambulance is also stationed at the Chennai Central station.
To ensure the safety of passengers at suburban railway stations and on EMUs, more security and crowd-management teams have been formed at several important stations such as Tambaram, Egmore, West Mambalam, Chennai Central, Moore Market Complex and Chennai Beach. To track the movement of trouble makers, several CCTV cameras have been placed at vantage points and are monitored round-the-clock at all stations.
According to the Assistant Security Commissioner (ASC), RPF, “Managing the festive crowd is a challenge. In order to avoid shortage of staff during Deepavali, the Department has enforced strict restrictions on its employees’ leave applications.” He said anti-sabotage checks and frisking of baggage will be intensified at major stations. Many people travel before Deepavali and the density is more in stations such as Chennai Central, Egmore, West Mambalam and Tambaram. Special express trains are introduced from Egmore to clear the rush (intra-state passengers). At Chennai Central, the entry/exit routes are limited to two. Surprise checks inside the trains and in platforms will also be made at regular intervals at all stations.
Men in mufti will mingle with passengers to keep an eye on people who raise a suspicion. Also, the police would ensure that passengers did not carry crackers or any other inflammable substances on trains or on the railway premises. Frequent platform checks will be done on the Central-Villivakkam-Thiruvallur route, the Beach-Tambaram-Chengalpet route and also at MRTS stations, with greater focus on Mylapore, Triplicane and Velachery.
M. Thillai Natarajan, Deputy Superintendant of Railway Police, said, “Dog squad team and bomb detection and disposal squad team are also deployed to ensure safety for passengers at Central. ”
