Unofficial station entry points pose big security risk

Three are many unauthorised entrances and infrastructural lapses at the Pune railway station a serious security issue that has been left unaddressed by the authoritiesu00a0As a result there is direct and unrestricted access to all platforms tracks and other areas on the railway station premises According to the Government Railway Police GRP there are many illegal entry points that trespassers use and these pose a great security threatu00a0GRP sources said the railway authorities were turning a blind eye to this serious problem Nothing official about it u00a0An entrance that is restricted to the general public is used by people to gain direct access to the railway station platforms as no security men are deployed at the spot PicKrunal Gosavi Broken walls back gates The protection wall for railway tracks is broken at the bridge near Alankar Talkies and people can reach the second and third platform by walking along the tracks Many people from the slums near the Wadia College bridge can be seen walking in and out of the railway stationu00a0There are also many gates at the back of the central cabinet which is the signal control room of the Pune Railway Division There are other unauthorised entry points at the electric locomotive shed and Maldhakka chowk from where people can walk along the tracks up to the station as well as at the railway yards on either end of the station u00a0There are no ticket checkers or staff from the railway administration at these points People without platform tickets can be found on all six platforms and the foot overbridges Unguardedu00a0A gate restricted to the general public has no security men to keep a watch PicKrunal Gosavi ldquoBy sending a letter to the railway authorities we have given detailed information about these spots but so far they have closed only one entrance the one located at the parcel officerdquo Senior Police Inspector GRP Mahendra Rokade saidu00a0ldquoWe are demanding closure of all such spots by constructing a wall or a proper gate In the current scenario what is the use of the metal detector and scanner installed at the main entrance to the station Today anybody can enter the premises from the unauthorised entry pointsrdquou00a0 GRP manpower crunch The GRP recently deployed two policemen near the central cabinet but they do not have enough manpower to cover all the entrances u00a0There are 150 policemen for the Pune Railway Division which has 37 stations from Neera to Karjat ldquoWe need an additional 150 policemen Currently for Pune station we have diverted our force by appointing two security men for every platformrdquo Rokade said ldquoWe are demanding the railway administration provide additional security guards for the sensitive areasrdquo Passing the buck Railway officials said the security of the station and other law and order issues were the responsibility of the GRP ldquoThousands of people visit the railway station every day and it is not feasible to check everybodyrdquo a railway official said requesting anonymity ldquoWe have closed many entry points but the slum areas near the station are creating lots of problems The slum dwellers enter the station using many methods and it is not possible to control themrdquou00a0 Security concerns gtgt Though 34 CCTV cameras have been installed at different parts of the station according to the GRP the quality of the CCTV system is not up to the mark gtgtu00a0u00a0A metal detector and scanner installed only at the main gate but even this does not work properly gtgtu00a0u00a0Many unauthorised gates on the premises of the Pune railway station gtgtu00a0u00a0Lack of manpower