The airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) recently requested the CISF to take over the 14-km stretch where the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PIDS) has been installed. The latter, in its reply, has asked the airport operator to provide technical specifications so that the force can take over the system.

The high-security system has been installed along the entire 27.6-km length of the airport boundary wall, but it is functional only on a 14-km patch. Airport officials cite unavailability of power as the reason behind its non-operation on the remaining 13.6 km.

“The DIAL has fully installed PIDS,” the airport operator said in a statement. The system is meant to detect, assess, neutralise and track potential or actual breaches along the airport’s periphery.

CISF sources, however, said the system is still full of deficiencies, such as a high rate of false alarms.

On DIAL’s request of CISF takeover, senior officials of the force said, “Taking over just 14-km does not make sense. We have asked for technical specifications. The DIAL is yet to respond.”

According to CISF, only 166 of the 241 CCTV cameras have been linked and integrated with the system so far. Low visibility conditions during times of dense fog have exposed more chinks in the PIDS.

“The CCTV cameras could not detect anything during fog. The DIAL installed four radars, which work even in fog, to counter the problem. Of them, only two are working,” said the source.

Sources in DIAL said the matter has been delayed for want of security permissions. “We reiterate our stand on full installation of PIDS. The trials are on and the CISF personnel who are monitoring the system are being imparted training,” a DIAL spokesperson said.

CISF officials said once operational without the present deficiencies, the system would certainly be a value addition to the conventional intrusion detection and security mechanisms. The system’s vendor, Israel-based Magal Group, has trained CISF personnel in the use of PIDS.

While the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security made it mandatory in 2007 for all airports in the country to have a perimeter intrusion detection system, only the GMR-run airports in Hyderabad and Delhi have installed the same so far.