IGI Airport's intruder system gets fixed

New Delhi: The Perimeter Intruder Detection System (PIDS) installed at the IGI Airport has been fixed with the help of an Israeli-based company. The system, whi-ch earlier used to raise 400 fake alarms per day has now been brought down to just 25, said the spokesperson of airport authority.

PIDS is a four-layered, hi-tech security system that eventually covers the entire 27-km wide airport perimeter. “The system raise an alarm when a person, animal, vehicle or any physical body applies pressure on the taut wire installed over the perimeter wall. The system is being jointly monitored by the CISF and the airport operations team. There is a 24x7 maintenance team in place to ensure uptime and availability of PIDS,” said the official.

“The system initially had some teething problems that were duly address-ed. The excessive alarms were controlled and the system was stabilised.” “All technical maintenance issues of PIDS are resolved on a real-time basis by a dedicated technical support team deployed in Security Operations Control Centre. The system is checked by the CISF through manual testing at lea-st four times a day,” the spokesperson added.

PIDS has a physical and covert detection system that include taut wire network, underground cable system, about 200 CCTV cameras for live visuals, radars, more than 40 wat-ch-towers and a patrolling track that covers the peri-meter.

The PIDS is manned by CISF to detect, assess, neutralise and track potential or actual breaches of the perimeter. “The situation is such that most of the airports in the country are situated right next to the city. Except Hyderabad, where it is functioning fine simply because the airport is at a considerable distance from the main city. But in Delhi or in Mumbai, it is tough to rely on PIDS alone. We need a combination of manpower and technology to ensure air tight sealing of the airport perimeter,” said the official.

“At numerous meetings, the CISF had flagged issues such as false alarms,” the official added.

“The PIDS system is not 100 per cent reliable. Due to its malfunction, the CISF has not taken its charge fully under its control. We have been jointly monitoring it with DIAL. If we take charge, we have to reduce the manpower from IGI Airport which will be a serious threat to airport security,” said the official.

“We asked the airport operator to build the watch tower at a distance of 300 meters. Delhi experiences extreme weather conditions, especially during the winter season when fog covers the entire airport premise thus affecting visibility and the security personnel as well,” said the official.

The Isreali firm received orders for integrated security solutions and maintenance for several major and international airports, including Barcelona Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi last year.  “They have expertise to solve the technical glitches of PIDS system and the function of the system has been improved over the year. Though the system has been improved over the period, still it is generating fake alarms. Around 300-400 alarms were being generated on an average and among them around 80-85 per cent alarms were fake.  Now it has come down around 25 fake alarms in a single day. We cannot rely on this system alone,” said a senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official, on the condition of anonymity.