Hi-tech screening is now in the bag

The Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport at Sahar is all set to procure 16 desktop trace explosive detectors (TED) and two hand-held portable vapour detectors to upgrade luggage and passenger checks to international air security standards.

In addition to adopting modern technology to enhance its security requirements, the CISF has started work on creating kennels for the age-old recipe of sniffing out possible explosives — its own dog squad which will be operational by the first quarter of 2007.

Confirming this commandant of the central industrial security force (CISF) Sanjay Prakash told DNA: “The group of officials (comprising officials attached to the Bureau of Civil Aviation, CISF, the bomb detection and disposal squad, general manager of the Mumai International Airport Private Ltd (MIL) and electronics experts of MIL) have submitted a recommendation for procuring the twin varieties of explosive detection devices as per the requirements of the international airport.”

Presentations on the effectiveness of such devices have been going on in the aftermath of the Mumbai serial train bomb blasts and US firms like General Electric and Smith have been vying for the supply contracts. Prakash added that while the TED devices ranged between Rs 35 to Rs 50 lakh, each explosive vapour detector (EVD) cost between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

“There are essentially two ways to detect explosives in the check-in luggage of air passengers. The EVD devices create vapour around the article being inspected with an air suction facility that passes on a sample of air into the machine. The second device (TED) hones in on physical particles of microscopic amounts around the inspected article and can even detect explosive materials in nano grams thanks to a swab test,” he added.

At present, the airport has 32 conventional X-ray machines for screening baggage which are not very effective at locating moderately sophisticated explosive devices. However, reports on the reliability of the EVD devices have surfaced in the US recently, raising concerns about Mumbai’s plans to introduce the same.

The Transportation Security Administration in the US is suspending installation of the only airport checkpoint device that automatically screens passengers for hidden explosives due to problems with the system’s reliability, The New York Times reported on September 2, 2006. “We are seeing some issues that we did not anticipate” with the devices known as “puffers,” NYT quoted Randy Null, the agency’s chief technology officer.

But Prakash says they are aware of the limitations of the EVD portable hand-held devices. “We are therefore going in for only two EVD devices, while seeking to place 16 TEDs at the Mumbai airport facility.”