CISF seeks to end stamping of hand baggage tags at 10 more airports

The Central Industrial Security Force had started trials at seven metro airports in December 2016. By September 15, a trial will be conducted for dispensing with hand baggage tags at 10 more airports.

Paramilitary force CISF, which provides security to 59 airports across India, wants to end stamping of hand baggage tags at 10 more airports and has written to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to provide necessary infrastructure there.

A CISF personnel checks identity documents of a passenger at the IGI airport in New Delhi. CISF has asked for an end to hand baggage stamping at more airports across India. (HT file photo)

The Central Industrial Security Force had started trial runs at seven metro airports in December 2016. After the trial, stamping was removed at the airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad and Kochi. In subsequent phases, more airports were included.

By September 15, a month-long trial will be conducted for dispensing with hand baggage tags at Amritsar, Chandigarh, Varanasi, Udaipur, Ranchi, Dibrugarh, Nagpur, Pune, Mangaluru and Trichy.

The CISF had also conducted a trial run at airports in Coimbatore, Calicut, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra and Vadodara, but was not satisfied with the security infrastructure at Bhubaneswar and Bagdogra.

“Baggage tag stamping has been removed at other four airports but at Bagdogra and Bhubaneswar, we have asked AAI to improve facility like CCTV and scanners before we end the stamping,” said a CISF official.

The CISF had also done away with stamping from Chennai, Patna, Guwahati, Trivandrum, Jaipur and Lucknow from June 1.

During the earlier trial runs, the CISF found that stamping of baggage tags could be dispensed with after certain modifications in the Security Hold Areas of the airports and installation of high-definition CCTV cameras. These modifications were required to make sure that passengers could not access bags containing restricted items which are segregated by CISF personnel for checking.

“High Definition CCTV cameras focused on the baggage screening system were required so that CISF personnel who cleared a bag could be easily identified to fix accountability,” a CISF official said.