Red alert sounded in Metro stations after Saturday's blasts

New Delhi, Sep 15 (UNI) The Delhi Metro today sounded a red alert at all its 62 stations following Saturday's serial blasts that rocked the capital.

It has instructed its staff to continuously monitor the Metro premises to detect any object or spot any suspicious person moving about.

Stating that it was ready to meet any emergencies, a DMRC spokesman said the Metro had already conducted more than a dozen mock drills to prepare its staff for situations such as fire within train or station premises, collision of trains, terrorist attack or bomb threat and natural calamities like earthquake.

''The entire Metro system is fully scanned and covered by more than 1,200 Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTVs) to monitor the movement of all persons at Metro stations,'' he said. In Phase-II, the new trains being procured by DMRC will also have CCTVs inside the trains.

All Metro operations and maintenance staff had been given specialised training by Delhi Fire Service at their training institute in Rohini and First Aid training was given by St Johns Ambulance at the Metro Training Institute at Shastri Park.

Door frame Metal Detectors and bomb blankets were available at every Metro station already, he said. The CISF also had their own Bomb Disposal Squad, Dog Squad and Quick Reaction Teams spread over the Metro system in the city. Security personnel in plain clothes were also moving about among the passengers to check any suspicious person indulging in any suspicious activity.

As a precautionary measure, DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan, today ordered the removal of all the dustbins from the platform areas at all stations as these were used by terrorists recently for bomb blasts which took place in the capital.

He said the stations were so designed that it was possible to evacuate passengers within 5-6 minutes in an emergency situation.

Heavy Duty Reversible Exhaust Fans were also available in the Metro tunnel for removing poisonous gases and complete fire fighting equipments were available at all stations.

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