Mumbai:
In Mumbai this evening, hundreds of people came together in a human chain that stretched from Opera House to Zaveri Bazaar. A quiet expression of a city that has learnt in the hardest of ways to fend for itself.
The three serial blasts that shattered rush hour on Wednesday evening killed 19, left 131 injured. Still shaken by the grotesque events of 26/11 over two-and-a half years ago, Mumbai found that it is still stalked by terror and that plans to prevent it remain a To-Do list.
Force 1, Mumbai's elite commando hub set up after 26/11 still doesn't have a dedicated home. The 99-acre plot intended as its base is caught in a dispute with tribals who live there. So the 300 commandos have no place to train. But that's almost an aside, given that 90 per cent of them don't have bullet-proof vests, helmets or other essentials like blast-proof eyewear.
Stung by the city's unpreparedness during 26/11 the government sanctioned 127 crores to modernise the force and upgrade equipment.
But the bulk of the force is not firearm-trained and of the 43,000 policemen, only 150 have bullet-proof jackets. 36 crores have been spent on arms and ammunition.
And a network of 5000 security cameras has yet to be installed because of a nervousness among bureaucrats to sign on contracts. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said after this week's blasts that red tape and "a nervousness in procurement" means the city has missed its security upgrade.
"Those people laid down their lives for a cause and that cause is not being addressed that's how I would like to put it," says Aditi Shashank Shinde, whose father died in 26-11. "We have not learnt anything in spite of losing some brave officers in 26/11."
And at Dadar, one of the three places targeted this week, a familiar complaint is heard. "For at least half hour no one came. Around 20, 25 minutes later, the police came. The ambulance came after that," says a man who owns a shop here.
The parade of lapses is unforgivable because it is birthed purely by a lack of will and coordination. 82 bomb suits are awaiting inspection. Worse, without this inspection they can't be used by the bomb disposal squad that desperately needs them. 50000 multi functional belts ordered by the police have still not been collected because they haven't got the final stamp of approval. One total containment vehicle, used to diffuse bombs and robotic arms are gathering dust.
As the government tries to trace those responsible for the latest terror attack, investigators are relying on 11 CDs with footage from security cameras. At two of the three places where bombs exploded, those cameras were installed by the shopkeepers who operate there. Mumbai tries to look out for itself. It has no choice.