Delhi IGI's terminal 1D to get country's first body scanner

NEW DELHI: Delhi airport's terminal 1D is all set to get India's first body scanner. United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will be giving a 'millimetre wave scanner' to IGI Airport which will be installed in the coming weeks. It will then be tested for "Indian conditions" by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) which will look at its health and privacy concerns.

"The machine at 1D will be tested for Indian conditions.Passengers will be voluntarily asked to go through it but it will not be mandatory . Once it is tested, use of the scanner for other airports will be decided," said an official.

These scanners are used at several airports globally , including the US. "If the scanner passes all tests, using it would be up to individual airport operators. However, even if installed, it will never be mandatory for passengers.The opt-out option for flyers will always be there and they can go for pat-down checks which happen currently ," said the official.

The scanner is learnt to be made specially for India so it can check through the layers of clothing unique to this country--like chunnat (front fold) of a sari, lungi and pallu. Passengers going through the scanner will have to take off all metallic items, including belts, and shoes. In the current patdown frisking system, security men may ask suspicious passengers to take off their shoes and pass them through an xray.

USTDA has decided to give the scanner in the hope that many will opt for it to avoid patdown checks, which will lead to more orders from other Indian airports.

With domestic air travel growing almost 12% annually , long queues at security counters can be witnessed during peak travel hours. "We are getting reports of very long queues and congestion at security points in the airport during peak flight departure times. Because of this, BCAS had recently issued an order that there should not be separate security counter for businessand first-class passengers. It does not make sense if the security counters for economy-class flyers have long queues and counter for premium flyers is deserted. The Delhi airport will have to implement this order," a top aviation ministry official said.

A senior Delhi airport official claimed they open premium flyers' security counter for economy-class passengers in peak travel hours.

Body scanners are supposed to cut down the average frisking time for passengers substantially .