Barrier malfunction at T-3

In a freak accident, the passengers of two cars going towards Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) sustained injuries after an automatic bollard barrier malfunction. The barrier meant to stop vehicles in emergency, went up accidentally and pushed the car in air.

According to sources the bollards have been placed at the road leading to Terminal 3 to stop any vehicle, which can try to pass through without security check.

“Rising bollards are used to secure sensitive areas from attack, or to enforce traffic rules that are time related or restrict access to particular classes of traffic. At the T-3 it has been placed after the security barrier. At the barrier official of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are posted to check suspected vehicles,” said an airport source.

The incident took place at 11 p.m. on Wednesday night when a Wagon R car was passing through the security check.

“We have cleared the car after checking, but as soon as it crossed the barrier, the bollard which was placed right after the barrier, accidentally went up. The car, which was in the middle of the bollard also went up, and the driver lost control and rammed into a pedestrian footpath,” the source added.

Meanwhile, an Innova car, which was coming from behind also rammed into the bollard.

“The occupants of the car faced minor injuries, but the car got badly damaged. We are trying to rectify the fault with the bollard ,” an airport official said.

Two years ago a firing incident was reported outside the international terminal of Delhi airport, after which the vehicle managed to flee in absence of any security post. After the incident, the need of bollard was felt and it was installed at the road approaching Terminal-3.

According to experts there was a trend of stationary bollard, but a recent development is the rising bollard — a bollard that can be lowered entirely below the road surface to enable traffic to pass, or raised to block traffic.

They are increasingly becoming a common phenomena around the world to hinder vehicle-based terrorist actions from achieving close proximity to buildings and are also used to prevent ram-raiding.

A retractable bollard is a short post, which can be lowered, either manually or automatically, into the ground when not needed. It is especially useful in a mixed-use public space which supports both pedestrian use and emergency and or service vehicle use, said an expert. “This flexible use creates opportunities for vehicular control and pedestrian accessibility in a mixed use public space.”