Responding to 40-50 false alarms daily, Delhi airport to get new intruder detection system

The Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PIDS), which currently guards the Delhi airport’s perimeter, has been triggering false alarms. Officials say sometimes around 40-­50 false alarms are triggered in a day.

The much talked-about Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PIDS), installed at the Delhi airport to alert security agencies of any intrusion from the airport’s boundary wall, is likely to be replaced with a much more advanced technology. The step has been taken after Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) could not completely fix the technical glitches that the PIDS suffers.

CISF security personnel during the security check at IGI Airport T3 in New Delhi. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)

Officials in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for airport security, said PIDS generates around 40-50 fake alarms a day. An officer, however, said that the number of such fake alarms are decreasing every year.

Earlier this month, the CISF had written to DIAL to let a private security solutions company demonstrate the new technology. A senior CISF officer said the letter was sent after it was found in a recent security survey that the PIDS is not functioning properly.

A document from the security survey conducted in September, which is with HT, mentions that “PIDS is functioning well at Hyderabad airport. However, the system is not functioning properly at Delhi and Mumbai airports.” The document also read that at the rest 57 airports, the PIDS is yet to be installed.

Last week, after the aviation security summit concluded, a private security solutions company that had earlier helped the Border Security Force develop an intrusion prevention system in border areas demonstrated a similar technology at the Delhi airp or t’ s New Udaan Bhawan.

The demonstration was conducted for DIAL, the airport operator, and the CISF. Additional director general of the CISF (airport sector) MAG an apathy confirmed that the demonstration was conducted for both CISF and the DIAL. However, he refused to divulge further details. A mail sent to DIAL to seek its response remained unanswered.

Another senior CISF officer who did not wish to be named, said, “We have apprised the security solutions company with our requirements. They will now modify the technology according to our demands and another demo will be conducted. The existing PIDS will be razed after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) gives a nod to the new technology.”

According to standard operating procedures of the CISF, each time PIDS generates an alarm, commandos from the quick reaction team are rushed to the boundary to check for intrusions.