Govt to strengthen aviation security, increase manpower at BCAS

NEW DELHI: The government is in the process of hiring more personnel to strengthen civil aviation security in view of increased threat perception and rising untoward incidents globally.

The proposal to ramp up manpower at the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the nodal security agency for the civil aviation sector, also comes at a time when carriers are expanding their fleet to meet rising passenger traffic.

Acknowledging that BCAS is "badly understaffed" and has constraints in carrying out its functions, Civil Aviation Secretary V Somasundaran today said there is a proposal to increase head count at the security agency.

"It (BCAS) is badly understaffed. There is a proposal to increase the manpower," he said at a function to mark the 28th anniversary of BCAS.

Noting that the agency's responsibilities are increasing in the wake of rise in both passenger and cargo traffic, Somasundaran said, "Fifteen new airports are expected to come up in the next two to four years. Also, passenger traffic has shown healthy growth in the last one to one-and-a-half years."

He said that civil aviation security is a critical issues, especially since the country has porous borders, and also referred to a recent incident at the Mumbai airport where a passenger jumped out of an aircraft after landing.

Citing the daily reports provided by CISF, Somasundaran said there are "several problem areas" in respect to security. CISF looks after security at over 55 airports.