More sniffer dogs to patrol T2

As the Mumbai International Airport shifted to the T2 terminal last year and Air India’s domestic operations also take place from there, security agencies have decided to beef up their presence at the airport and increase the number of sniffer dogs at the

terminal. Incidentally, a sniffer dog of the bomb and dog squad of Mumbai airport retired last month due to an illness while another will retire by the end of this year.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has been deployed at Mumbai Airport to ensure safety and security. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), which comes under it, includes a team of special officers and sniffer dogs. There are 11 dogs in the squad. Out of these, Zenia, a German Shepherd, who suffers from a hearing problem, retired last month. A senior officer from the security agency said, “Zenia was not able to follow any directions given to him, so we had to retire him.” In the first week of October there was a committee meeting held in the airport, which issued an internal notification to search for someone who was willing to adopt Zenia, but till November 6, there were no takers. Finally on Saturday, a CISF constable approached the officers and asked for the dog’s custody. According to the sources from the department, a Labrador, Sensation, is set to retire next month.

While commenting on this development, a top officer from CISF commented, “Sniffers work for 10 years, after that we retire them. But, with the retirement we are looking for expansion of the squad, as the current international terminal is a very big building. With all the domestic operations shifted there, the traffic will increase and during peak hours we see bigger crowds; hence department feels that more sniffer dogs are necessary.”

According to the sources from the department, three sniffer dogs that will be included in Mumbai BDDS squad on December 25 are undergoing training at the Tekanpur BSF Academy of Gwalior.

The sniffer dogs patrol the airport terminal for four hours every day and a pair of sniffers work together in every shift.

“A top doctor visits them every month, we spent at least Rs 25,000 on their food every month and they are are kept in AC halls,” stated a officer from the BDDS squad. “Security officials find more than 200 unclaimed bags (on a monthly basis) lying around on the airport premises and every time we find such a bag the BDDS is called in and sniffers check the bags,” said a CISF officer.