Satnam Ahluwalia’s phone refuses to stop ringing these days. At the other end of the line are anxious callers seeking a sense of security in the time of terror.

Downturn is a distant rumble that has been denied access into the plush Alipore office of the convener of the Central Association of Private Security Industry for West Bengal. Demand here is threatening to outpace supply.

“The industry has witnessed a 40 to 50 per cent surge in demand in the past 12 months,” says Ahluwalia, who owns the OSDA Security agency.

If the demand for security guards and tech tools has been rising with every terror strike over the past few months, it has sky-rocketed since the siege of Mumbai.

“Even institutions and establishments in town that claimed Calcutta was a safe city and were reluctant to boost their security budget are now scurrying for cover,” says a supplier of doorframe metal detectors and hand-held detectors.

Various government offices and railway stations have been quick to install closed-circuit cameras.

“Today every big office, mall and multiplex wants to be under surveillance to reduce the risk of a terror attack,” says Rajesh Bhutoria of Dinesh Enterprise, specialising in CCTV supply. “There is a scare in the city.”

Safety in the time of scare is the calling card of this industry. There are over 150 agencies in town now to meet the growing demand for private protection. From manpower to mechanical safeguards, private agencies are offering security solutions for every budget.

“We are receiving numerous queries every day. People want to know about the services we provide, the budget and the security plan for their premises,” reveals a spokesperson for G4S (Group 4 Securicor), eyeing a 25 per cent rise in business.

A security plan is drawn up on the basis of “how big the place is, what the footfall is, what type of people visit it and how sensitive it is”, explains an official of Tops Security.

With peril, the profile of the security guard has changed dramatically. “Earlier it was about providing well-built watchmen. Now we are training our men to carry out surveillance, maintain vigil, gather intelligence, identify specific patterns and even foil a terror attack. They are being taught to handle firearms and ambush situations,” says Ahluwalia, before his cellphone starts ringing again.