Airports on high alert after Mumbai terror strike

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Security at airports across the country has been beefed up following Wednesday night's terror attack in Mumbai that claimed at least 101 lives, a government official said Thursday.

A senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said security has been tightened at airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai besides 13 other airports across the country. These airports have been categorised as 'hyper sensitive' by security agencies.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at the Mumbai airport have erected additional barricades, the official said.

At Delhi airport, the CISF and the Delhi Police are monitoring vehicles approaching the airport. 'This has delayed flights and also affected the air traffic movement,' said an airport official here.

A former official of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) told IANS on condition of anonymity that if terror attacks in Mumbai were any indication, the threat to airports would rise further.

'Airports are always the first choice for terrorist attacks,' he said.

He said Indian airports, even hyper-sensitive airports, do not have a foolproof security. 'We have actually not geared up to meet the terror threat which is only going to be more acute in the days to come,' the official added.