Wedsnesday’s serial bomb blasts in Mumbai that killed 18 people and injured over 140 has brought into focus the state of security in public places in Chennai and raised questions about the safety of people in the city.

While the Mumbai blasts were triggered crowded public localities, trains have been a favoured target of terrorists.

In the last attack on trains in Mumbai, explosions were set off on seven locals, leaving 188 people dead on July 11, 2006.

Security was beefed up in railway stations in Tamil Nadu since Wednesday night and at Chennai Central and other stations in the city, armed Railway Protection Force personnel and Government Railway Police (GRP) frisked passengers and inspected their baggage.

However, experts are sceptical about such knee-jerk reactions after terror strikes and say the increased security will soon be withdrawn, leaving the stations as vulnerable as ever.

Chennai Central and Egmore stations as well as important suburban and MRTS stations are soft targets for a terrorist attack, a security expert told DC, adding that the security apparatus at these stations is so porous that a group of militants could easily walk past the ineffective scanners and metal detectors that are installed there.

Former IAS official M.G. Devasahayam notes that government security departments are reactive rather than proactive.

“We tend to act only after a crisis and not do anything to prevent it from happening,” he said. “With Central and Egmore stations easily accessible from suburban rail sections as well, extremists can easily enter these crowded hubs and wreak havoc.”

Around 2 lakh passengers use Chennai Central every day and 80,000 people pass through the Egmore station, but there is no permanent facility to monitor people entering or leaving these junctions.

To Southern Railway’s claim that CCTV cameras monitor people at the stations, Mr Devasahayam asked, “Once a suspect is inside a busy railway station, how can you stop him from carrying out an attack?”

Suburban Rail Users Consultative Committee member Naina Maasilamani recollected a meeting with a senior SR official.

“We pointed how easy it is for a person to get in a station or take things inside. But the department never took any action. Let us not forget that the Vyasarpadi train hijack took place not so long ago,” he said.

IPS officer R. Nataraj says what is required is a streamlined monitoring system.

“If SR makes random inspections and ensures strict body and baggage checks through scanners it could prevent threats to a great extent,” Mr Nataraj said.

Track to safety?

*Total strength of RPF staff in Chennai Division (2005): 1,200

*700 additional personnel deployed in cases of crisis

*RPF commandos and RPF bomb detection squads at important stations

*A special team under an officer is deployed in the MRTS section during peak hours to prevent crime against passengers

*Seven stations in Chennai Division will be soon covered by an integrated security system (ISS).

*The Mumbai blasts cast their shadow on the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, at Sriharikota with security agencies enforcing unprecedented measures that have turned the already high-security area into an impregnable fort.

*The PSLV C-17 with GSAT-12 on board is set for launch at 4.48 pm on Friday at the launch centre, about 90 km north of Chennai.