Baggage scanners to be Installed

KOCHI: As the Ernakulam Junction railway station is all set to introduce luggage and parcel scanners, some of the railway staff are skeptical of the utility of such high tech machines at a station that sees thousands of passengers every day. This is, especially, after witnessing the not so successful example of the luggage scanner installed at the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.According to railway officials, the luggage scanner will be introduced at the first entrance and second entrance of the railway station. The railway official said, “Once the scanner is installed, all you have to do is briefly place your bag on the luggage scanner and it will identify every object in the baggage. Also, the scanner has the potential to store information, of each and every luggage scanned, for a period of 30 days.” A parcel scanner will also be set up at the parcel office to monitor the parcels that are dispatched and delivered. However, not every railway official seems convinced about the utility of the scanner. One of the railway sources said, “Luggage scanners are not practical in a railway station that does not even have proper boundary walls.”In addition to the security arrangements cited by the certain railway officials, the passengers say that the luggage scanner at the Thiruvananthapuram central station can be seen left idle at most of the times. In response to the observation by the passengers, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) commissioner K J Joy said, “We use the baggage scanning system only in case of an emergency or when we feel the need to use it. The lack of space, time and staff does not allow detailed inspection of all the passengers arriving at the railway stations. But, we do not keep the scanner idle. On the day it operates, at least, 700 baggage are scanned.”