Cameras outside airport removed

A source says that there are fewer surveillance cameras near the terminal's taxi stand now. Some of them, apparently, have had to be removed due to construction work, report Sidhartha Roy and Vijaita Singh.

Is the ongoing construction outside Indira Gandhi International Airport's domestic terminal compromising security?

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A source says that there are fewer surveillance cameras near the terminal's taxi stand now. Some of them, apparently, have had to be removed due to construction work.

The danger of not having sufficient cameras was highlighted when police started investigating the disappearance of an NRI businessman. The man was allegedly abducted and killed in a private taxi after he came out of the domestic airport's arrival terminal on October 10. While investigating the case, police didn't get any camera footage, as there are no cameras outside the terminal.

“There used to be some cameras near the taxi parking stand but they could have been temporarily removed due to construction work when the extension of the arrival terminal started,” said an airport source.

Airport operator Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd, however, claims that there are cameras near the taxi stand and more cameras would soon be installed. “There are CCTV cameras at the boarding point where passengers get into taxis. All the taxis are registered and their numbers are noted down with the passengers’ names,” said a DIAL spokesman.

Regarding measures to ensure passengers’ safety in the wake of the NRI case, Amulya Patnaik, JCP (Operations), says, “We will start a drive against private taxis that are not authorised to operate at the airport and also sensitise travellers to using only pre-paid taxis.”