The Railway ministry today lined up a slew of security measures to check incidents like Tuesday’s where seven bombs ripped apart as many coaches on Mumbai’s sub-urban trains. The Railways administrative machinery went into an overdrive and installed a CCTV system at the Churchgate railway station. ‘‘. The installation work is on at Mumbai Central. Sub-urban railway stations like Bandra Terminal, Dadar and Borivalli will have CCTVs by tomorrow,’’ RPF’s Chief Security Commissioner Anil Sharma told The Indian Express. Loosening its purse-strings, Railways is shelling out around Rs 1 crore for these CCTV, it is learnt.As first reported by The Indian Express, the proposal to install CCTVs at these stations was on hold despite several RPF requests and reminders to the zonal railways. Despite Railway Board’s ‘‘in-principle’’ approval, the proposal has to be executed at the zonal level and this led to the delays, said officials.Not deterred by its past record in executing security-related mechanisms, the Railways now also wants X-ray machines installed for baggage checking at major railway stations. ‘‘ All the baggage cannot be screened but random checking can act as a deterrent,’’ said an official. However, not many in the Ministry feel that the project would take off. ‘‘If simple things like CCTVs can take so long, procuring X-ray machines could take an eternity given the entire process’’ said an official.Meanwhile, the RPF today decided to deploy two companies of Railways Protection Special Force (RPSF) at Mumbai’s sub-urban railway stations to access control.‘‘Around 170 RPSF personnel are being deployed in Mumbai. The idea is to increase our presence so that people’s confidence are restored,’’ said a senior RPF official in New Delhi. RPSF is a ‘‘reserved strike force’’ with special training to combat acts of terror. With weapons like Insas and SLRs, RPSF personnel are also better equipped than their RPF counterparts.The RPF also summoned dog-squads from neighbouring areas for Mumbai’s sub-urban routes and also gave a green signal to raising Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads for all the metro cities in the country.Senior RPF official today said that the extent of damage to the coaches suggest that the explosive used was possibly RDX, that too, in quantities not less than three kg per train.‘‘Also, the fact that all the bombs were planted in the first class compartments suggests that the perpetrators had studied the train system well. They probably chose first-class compartments because they are slightly less crowded and it is easier to plant an explosive and exit,’’ said a senior RPF official.
