BODY SCANNERS TO MAKE DEBUT AT NEW DELHI’S IGI AIRPORT

NEW DELHI: People catching flights from the New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International A i r p o r t ( I G IA ) m ay s o o n have to pass through a fullbody scanner, which is part of pending efforts to upgrade security at the airport that records 60,000 out-bound travelers a day.

The machine, which produces an X-ray image of a person, is a standard security device in many airports worldwide.

It has attracted criticism because people are uncomfortable with the full-body image it produces. Critics say the scan infringed their privacy.

Delhi airport conducted a trial run of the machine six years ago and is set to go for another round of trials at Terminal 3, or T3, the newest and biggest of its two terminals.

The German manufacturers of the machine have already started installing it at T3. Company officials will train Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, who guard the airport, to use the scanner.

Sources allayed fears about the objectionable images the machine can churn out, saying the snapshots would look like mannequins, instead of a graphic X-ray picture.

The Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and other security agencies have settled for this particular machine because it could be configured to not reveal images of body parts, and it emits less harmful rays.