Baggage scanner machine barely serving purpose

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 8

A baggage scanner machine (BSM) installed at the city railway station, to ensure proper security measures, is barely serving its purpose as passengers enter the station premises without their luggage being scanned in the machine.

On a visit by Bathinda Tribune to the city railway station, it was found that majority of the passengers do not place their baggage/luggage on the scanning machine and reach their respective platforms without being checked. 

The RPF personnel manning the machine was seen asking only a handful of passengers to place their luggage on the scanner machine.

Sources said installing a BSM would not serve its purpose until luggage of every passenger was scanned before it reaches any platform or train. When a train is to depart, a huge inflow of passengers rush towards their respective platforms as a result luggage of only a small percentage of passengers is checked in the BSM therefore, defeating its actual purpose of checking luggage for any suspicious object/activity. Moreover, there is no BSM installed at the exit point of the railway station and a large number of passengers enter the station premises from there.

Notably, to enhance the security arrangements at city railway station, RPF had installed a sophisticated BSM at the entrance of the city railway station. The officials of RPF stated that given the increased passenger base at Bathinda Railway Junction, it was imperative to intensify vigil and installation of a BSM was a step in that direction. 

A group of passengers said with no checking arrangements at the exit points, passengers could be seen entering the station with their baggage not being checked and there are possibilities of transportation of illegal substance or material by passengers. Therefore, introducing the BSM at the entry point itself would be merely a cosmetic solution to poor security arrangements at the station.