Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), which has seen steady increase in passenger flow, will add a third layer of security to the airport operations complete with surveillance cameras, posts manned by personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as well as boom barriers and bollards.
The steady increase in passenger traffic through the airport has led to a steep rise in the number of vehicles using the airport connectivity road. However, vehicles using the airport connection road to go to places like Kalady and Perumbavoor too have gone up substantially over the years. This has resulted in a demand for segregation of the traffic as well as diversion of the traffic to exclusively cater to the requirements of airport operations, CIAL sources said.
The segregation had been suggested by the CISF and the works have now been taken up. The works will involve widening the approach road, making it into a four-lane road to enable the diversion of the traffic proceeding to places other than the airport.
The new security layer will start at the landing point at the airport end of the railway overbridge. At present, the layers of security start at the entrance to airport premises and then to the terminal area.
Cost will come to Rs. 5 crore
Civil works for the new security layer are already under way. The total cost of the new system would be around ₹5 crore, including the civil works and the security infrastructure and equipment, sources added.
Meanwhile, CIAL, which continues to be the fourth in terms of international passengers and seventh in terms of total passengers in the country, is likely to serve one crore passengers during the current financial year. The airport handled a total passenger traffic of 8.9 million during the last financial year and so far the the number of passengers has touched 70 lakh this financial year, airport sources said. The last financial year had seen an overall passenger movement increase of 15.06%. The domestic sector saw an increase of 26%.
