Nikhila Pant Dhawan Bathinda, June 9 On the eve of Operation Blue Star anniversary, when the city police had beefed up security, there was at least one place ready to welcome anti-social elements — the Bathinda junction. Despite being one of the largest and the busiest railway junctions of Asia, the Bathinda junction hardly ensures security to the passengers, especially at night and early morning. Although officials of the railway protection force (RPF) and the government railway police (GRP) claim that they are working overnight to make the junction safe, the absence of metal detectors at the entry and exit points, dysfunctional close circuit televisions (CCTVs) cameras and freely-roaming sadhus belie the claims. During a conversation with Bathinda Tribune, the station superintendent, Ram Swaroop Meena, said, “The main security concern of the junction is that it is open from almost all sides. Even if we install security check points near the reservation centre, there are hundreds of other points from where one may enter the junction.” Although as many as seven CCTVs cameras have been installed at the junction, three at the reservation counter and four at the railway over-bridge, some of these cameras are not functional. Notably, the GRP had conducted a survey of the junction in 2012 and submitted a letter to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), requesting procurement and installation of as many as 29 CCTVs cameras. The parcel room, where goods worth lakhs of rupees are stored before they are loaded and after they are unloaded, is also bereft of round-the-clock surveillance. Metal detectors, which are a must at most public places and offices, are absent here. “The parking lot was not well lit. The railway authorities have now installed three search lights on the junction premises. While one is installed in the parking lot, another one has been installed near the reservation counter and the third in the ARM yard. There was some problem with the wiring in these areas and hence, we hope that the lights will start functioning by the end of this month,” the station superintendent said. More than 60 trains, including those departing from the junction and the ones halting here as a transit point, leave for different destinations daily. These also include mail trains and passenger trains. Apart from taking the passengers to their destinations, the junction is also used by traders and the Army to ferry goods worth crores from and to various parts of the country. Justifiably it would not be too much to ask for round-the-clock presence of security personnel, which are seen only when a senior railway official visits the junction.

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