Mock drills at airport worry residents

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 6

Regular mock drills at the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport has made residents fearful, especially those residing at the airport road. They think there may be some intelligence input about threat to the city airport.

The last such drill at the airport was held three days ago. It was second exercise in the past 45 days.

The airport falls under the high security zone as it is close to the Pakistan border. In the past, this airport has been targeted by militants to hijack planes. The last such case was of an Indian Airlines Flight 814, popularly known as IC 814, hijacked from Kathmandu by terrorists of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in 1999. The plane landed at the local airport for re-fuelling.

However, airport officials say there is no threat. Since it falls under the high security zone, vigil has to be kept, they say. There is a standard operating procedure (SOP) which has been put in place in totality. Many other security measures are also initiated in this regard.

The CISF, which is tasked with guarding the airport, has deployed more combatants. The Punjab Police have also deployed its personnel. The vigil is increased whenever an alert is sounded by the Intelligence Bureau.

High alert was sounded in August 2015 by the Intelligence Bureau immediately after an attack at civilian and police installations by three terrorists of Pakistan at a police station in Dinanagar sub-division in the border district of Gurdaspur.

Similarly, the authorities at Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport had stepped up security in the wake of a terrorist attack on a defence installation in the neighbouring Pathankot district in January 2016.

Airport officials stated that such drills were conducted regularly to check the preparedness level of the combatants and synergy in various departments which together take part in such exercise. They added that its motive was purely safety and security of people.

Nirmal Singh of Jujhar Avenue on airport road said, “Regular mock drills at the airport have left the residents worried. They feel that there must be an intelligence input regarding threat to the airport.”