Lack of Tetra network haunt terror-hit Mumbai
"We depended on mobile phones, our radio wireless communication system was the only back up, we had to depend on that, but our statewide VHF network is not being used now"
Wednesday's terror attacks in Mumbai
not only exposed the Maharashtra government's hollow claims of being
prepared after 26/11, it also heaped more shame and embarrassment on the
state apparatus.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was forced
to admit that he and several other senior officials could not
communicate with each other as phone lines got jammed across the city.
It wasn't the first time that Mumbai's communication systems let down a
megapolis already reeling under a terror onslaught.
Chavan was
left completely helpless in the initial moments after the bombs went
off. "But for the first 15 minutes or so, there was complete breakdown
of communications which was shocking, which was unacceptable. We
depended on mobile phones, our radio wireless communication system was
the only back up, we had to depend on that, but our statewide VHF
network is not being used now. We're trying to rebuild that as a back up
communication," he told a TV channel.
The situation would have
been different if Mumbai had taken to its logical end the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation's (BMC) 2007 plans to install a Tetra (terrestrial
trunked radio) network for the entire city. An uninterrupted
communication network, a key component of a robust emergency response
system, is known to be a life-saver in moments of crisis the world over.
Soon after the deluge of 2005, the BMC started discussions on
creating a communication network that could mesh the police, fire
department and other emergency responders on a single system, which can
withstand all calamities. Though the first tender was floated in 2007,
four years later there is no sign of the network. Delhi, which started the process much later, installed its Tetra network before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The result of the Maharashtra government's lackadaisical attitude has
been that emergency responders were left at the mercy of phone lines and
jammed mobile networks to coordinate during the critical initial
moments of a terrorist strike.
In 2008, when 10 terrorists
struck Mumbai, the total lack of a cohesive and secure communication
network was acutely on display. Some observers also believe that it
might have even led to the loss of some more lives. Many key
functionaries, including chiefs of agencies involved in the operations
in 2008, were dependent on insecure mobile networks for communication.
Sources say the 2007 tender for the Tetra network was cancelled by the
BMC after one of the competitors complained they were not given adequate
time to participate. A fresh expression of interest was issued in
December 2008. This tender process was again
Source: www.timesofindia.com
