Immigration bureau to take over operations at Tiruchi airport
The stage is set for the proposed take over of the
immigration wing at the Tiruchi international airport by the Bureau of
Immigration (BoI) coming under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Although
a final date for the “official” take over by the BoI is yet to be
finalised, the transition may happen in May first week or latest by the
middle of next month.
Tamil Nadu State police
personnel drawn from various police stations and units on “on
deputation”, headed by an officer of the rank of a Deputy Superintendent
of Police, are attached to the Security Branch CID wing and take care
of immigration matters.
Consequent to the
changeover, the immigration wing would come under the complete
administrative and operational control of the BoI and the Foreigners
Regional Registration Officer stationed in Chennai.
Ahead
of the proposed switchover, a group of first batch of field-level
personnel of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) are undergoing training in
Chennai on various aspects including counter clearance. The training is
being organised prior to their posting in the immigration wings at the
Tiruchi and Coimbatore international airports.
While
one batch would be posted in Tiruchi airport, another group would be
deputed to the immigration unit at Coimbatore airport which was expected
to come under the complete control of the BoI on May 1, said the
sources.
Sources said some State police personnel
already serving in the immigration unit at Tiruchi airport would be
retained initially as it might not be immediately possible for the IB to
depute its men as per the sanctioned strength of the immigration unit
owing to manpower shortage.
About 10 to 15 IB
personnel are expected to be deputed to the Tiruchi immigration unit
upon completion of training and the State police personnel would be
withdrawn in a phased manner, said senior officers. The sanctioned
strength for the Tiruchi immigration unit was 115, including clerical
and technical staff.
A senior IB officer and a
National Informatics Centre officer inspected the Tiruchi airport
sometime ago to study the logistics and other requirements in view of
the changeover. This was followed by a recent “on-the-spot inspection”
by two top officers of the Bureau of Immigration and the State Police.
Willingness
from the existing State police personnel to serve in the immigration
unit had been ascertained, say the sources and added that the bureau
would provide additional infrastructure consequent to the take over. In
Tamil Nadu, Chennai airport alone is under the complete control of the
BoI at present.
Guarded by the Central Industrial
Security Force, the Tiruchi airport was declared an international
airport through a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Civil
Aviation in November last year. It has been classified under the
“sensitive” category.
The airport has witnessed a
steady increase in passenger traffic over the years with 118
international flights arriving and leaving Tiruchi every week to
overseas destinations such as Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and
Singapore.
Sri Lankan Airlines, Air India Express,
Air Asia, and Tiger Airways operate from Tiruchi daily, while Mihin
Lanka operates flights four days a week.
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