84 airportsacross the country will have to install body scanners by March 2020 as per thedirection of the central government. The Centre has directed the airportauthorities to replace the existing door frame metal detectors and hand-heldscanners besides pat-down searches of passengers to detect metallic objects.
According tothe circular sent by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), "Walk throughmetal detectors and hand-held metal detectors cannot detect non-metallicweapons and explosives. Body scanners detect both metallic and non-metallicitems concealed on the body."
It has alsobeen mentioned in the circular about the standard operating procedures that 84airports would have to follow while using body scanners.
According toreports, 28 airports are classified as hypersensitive out of 105 operationalairports in the country including those in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, Chennai and in conflict areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeastwhile 56 are categorized as sensitive.
The circularstated that these 28 hypersensitive and 56 sensitive airports would have toinstall body scanners by March 2020 while the remaining airports can install itby March 2021. It further states that scanners shall provide image-freesolution using a generic mannequin and threats shall be graphically presentedaddressing the privacy concerns that these machines may generate images withfull body contours.
In the mannequin-likeimage generated by the machine, a yellow spot will highlight the area on thebody that may need further screening. In the screening, the passengers willhave to remove their jackets, thick clothing, shoes, belts as well as allmetallic items before entering into the body scanner of an airport.
These scannersare based on millimeter wave technology comprising non-ionising electromagneticradiation which means it is safe for all passengers including pregnant women.
