Planning to fly out of the city? Soon air passengers may have to take out their mobile phones, chargers, wallets and any other electronic items from their handbags for screening at airports. So far, only laptops and tablets were required to be taken out from the bags and kept in trays for screening. According to a TOI report, following some cases of detection of knives in the past few days, now odd-sized pens are also being screened with enhanced care. In the past few weeks, passengers flying out of Delhi have been asked to take these steps. A senior CISF officer said that this is being carried out across the country for speedier security clearance at airports.
According to the CISF officer, while scanning the handbags, the screen displays a lot of clutter in bags. Also, screeners request removal of other electronic items and chargers, in case of a jumbled picture. The officer also said that pens are checked for knives if they are heavier or if they look different. The bags are checked manually in cases of doubts, due to which the processing time slows down. Therefore, taking out these items from bags will help speed up handbag screening, the officer added.
The report stated that now, the CISF has taken up “back to basics” practice where at pre-embarkation security check (PESC) points, boards will be put up, reminding passengers to remove anything that is prohibited in aircraft cabin that might have remained in handbags by mistake, such as knives or scissors. Passengers who possess gun licences often bring handbags that have bullets in them. The CISF staff checking these items and removing them from handbags slows the entire process, and this often leads to long queues.
At most of the airports in India, congestion at PESC points is a major concern, including the Delhi airport and Mumbai airport, have not added any capacity despite the fact that domestic air travel has been growing at over 20 per cent for four years now.
