VASCO
A security alert issued by the Inspector General of Police Jaspal Singh in view of the escalating tension between India and Pakistan seems to have been ignored or not taken seriously.
Those in in-charge of police stations and senior officers were directed to maintain maximum alert around defence installations and keep vigil around important buildings and crowded places, but the ground reality is different.
The security alert sounded by the IGP has been overlooked in the Port Town which houses important installations. Many of these wore a deserted look with no security or armed guards present around, thus making the Port Town most vulnerable to any terrorism attack.
The Goan decided to do a ground check to see whether the IGP’s alert was being implemented and found that except for the Dabolim International Airport no other vital installations like the oil tanking units in the heart of the city, the railway station or even the new sub-district hospital in Chicalim had any security armed guards.
Shocking as it may seem, the oil tanking companies based in the heart of the city had no additional security. Even shocking was that the Vasco railway station entry and exit points were without metal detectors and security guards even as passengers rushed in and out with baggages to board a Patna-bound train.
Even the Goa Shipyard, another vital installation, too had no armed guards manning the main gate.
However, only a few police armed guards were placed at a few points at Dabolim Airport.
A resident of Vasco on condition of anonymity said, “There has always been a question mark over disaster preparedness and mitigation abilities of the local administration. It was painfully evident during the recent ammonia tanker disaster and as such installations without armed security guards is like a joke made out of the IGP order.”
He said the railway station at Vasco opens up to the Port Town which has such sensitive installations, which have to be under tight security all the time. “The entry exit points at the railway station are without metal detectors and there are no screening facilities. How will someone know what people are carrying in their bags,” he added.
