Post 26/11, BMC’s focus: in-house capacity building, communication

The November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks prompted state and civic authorities to identify and tackle loopholes in security, communication, and disaster response, a process that has, according to senior officials, evolved over the last 13 years

The November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks prompted state and civic authorities to identify and tackle loopholes in security, communication, and disaster response, a process that has, according to senior officials, evolved over the last 13 years.

26/11: Hostages and guests being rescued at Hotel Taj. (Hindustan Times)

Various agencies have reportedly streamlined their standard operating protocols (SOPs), improved coordination between state and central entities, and ensured that surveillance systems are ramped up.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) disaster management department, the first-responder agency for any emergency situation in the city, focuses on refining two major aspects of disaster response: communication and in-house capacity building.

A home department official said, “Though the Disaster Management Act mandates that district, city and state level bodies take care of disaster management, they were not in place. There was confusion over the responsibility, hierarchy and the steps to be taken at any level. It took us hours to activate the Mantralaya control room. Since then, we have modernised the police force, procured weapons and built a CCTV network.”

Besides the dedicated National Security Guard (NSG) teams in Mumbai, the state has permanently posted 14 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in the state, including three in Mumbai and 10 in Pune.

“Though specialised operations involving guns or other weapons will be armed forces’ domain, NDRF is equipped and trained to handle any type of disaster including a nuclear attack,” the official said. “Its major role is in rescue and relief. For this, the NDRF has specialised response teams.”

“A major lapse during the 26/11 attack was coordination. We have put in place better coordination protocols in accordance with the Pradhan commission recommendations.”

The Pradhan Commission report said, “What we have found are instances of lack of intelligent appreciation of threats, handling of intelligence, maintaining high degree of efficiency in instruments specifically set up to deal with terrorist attacks and certainly lack of overt and visible leadership in carrying out operations to face multi-targeted attacks… While senior police officials at Mumbai police headquarters were clueless about the protocol to follow to monitor the situation, the political leadership in Mantralaya took hours to take decisions on steps to be taken.”

The home department official said, “Our major achievement was building the CCTV network in Mumbai and other key cities such as Pune, Nagpur, and Aurangabad. Mumbai has a network of 5600 cameras installed by the state government at a cost of ₹1100 crore. The state-owned network has since been integrated with the network of CCTVs owned by Mumbai’s private establishments.”

In March 2019, BMC inaugurated its City Institute of Disaster Management in Parel, which houses a second disaster management control room, an exact replica of the main control room at the BMC headquarters. “If the main control room fails, the second one will fire up in 19 seconds,” a civic official said.

As part of the GIS-based system, notifications are sent to agencies that need to be mobilised. There is an SOP for each type of disaster.