Emergency centre for BIA

Emergency centre for BIA

September 13th, 2009
By Our Correspondent



Bengaluru
Sept. 12: The Bengaluru International Airport will soon have a full-fledged Airport Emergency Management Centre.
It was decided on Saturday during the security drill exercise that the present centre being operated from a small room with a skeletal staff will be upgraded to a dedicated centre in the coming days.
A senior official from BIA told this newspaper that the DGCA team realised that a team capable of taking vital decisions during an emergency situation is a must at Bengaluru airport. The CEO of BIA Marcel Hungerbuehler has agreed to take the proposal forward by providing space for setting up the centre.
The centre will have secretary or commissioner ranked officers from CISF, police, customs and BIA security.
“The DGCA was very particular about the Airport Emergency Programme at Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports as these two airports had never carried out the security drill. The security exercise in Hyderabad airport will be held before December this year. The exercise in Bengaluru was appreciated by the DGCA members,” the official said.
The officials at the airport were more worried on how to manage passengers in case they panic during the mock drill. Though announcements were made inside the terminal building at the arrival lounge about the drill being conducted, there were several curious onlookers outside the airport discussing why several ambulances and fire fighting machines had landed at the airport.
“Repeated announcements were made about the mock drill inside the airport terminal. The forces involved in the drill also had a first hand experience on how to manage passengers when an emergency happens at the airport. Moreover, the airport is closed for two hours every Saturday for maintenance and there were lesser passengers during the drill,” the official said.
Traffic police who were responsible for giving free way to ambulances and fire engines that were ferrying between the airport and Hebbal flyover, were also involved in Saturday’s mock drill. DCP West (traffic) Pandurang H. Rane said that officers from five traffic stations were on duty during the drill at the airport.