Kozhikode: Move for police stations at airports in cold storage
CISF personnel had also ransacked the control room and damaged its equipment
Kozhikode: The suggestion of the home department to open police stations at airports to avoid incidents like the violent clashes between the CISF and the airport staff at the Calicut airport, which claimed a life, has been put in the cold storage.
Home minister Ramesh Chennithala had then said the government would move ahead with the proposal and discuss the same with the airports authority of India (AAI). Police sources say nobody is talking about it now.
“Such ideas would be discussed widely and publicised only during such a crisis and then everybody forgets it. They wait for a similar disaster to happen again,” a home ministry staff told DC.
The idea was to have a police station on the airport premises as a third intervention force if something goes wrong internally. In Kozhikode, state policemen were deplo-yed to provide security to the air traffic control room for several days after the clashes as AAI staff did not want CISF troops there. The CISF personnel had also ransacked the control room and damaged its equipment.
“Immediately after the Kozhikode airport violence, a meeting was held to discuss the issues and to ensure preventive measures. Then the idea of starting police stations at the airports came up, but nothing moved after that,” the official added.
According to sources at Kozhikode airport, the tension between the CISF and the AAI staff continue without much difference.
“The tension is still there and the ego issues remain. Though several sessions to boost the confidence of staffers were held, the ground reality has not changed much. Clashes can happen again, if something goes wrong,” an airport official said.
