Anti Terror Mechanism using existing infrastructure
I have been thinking since Mumbai terror attack what could have been done to prevent so many casualties using our existing infrastructure. Immediate thought which comes to my mind is if we had used our communication infrastructure our forte, effectively, we could have saved many lives.
Let us go back to incidents which took place on 26 th November and see what could have been achieved using efficient comm.
Here I am assuming certain sequence for events which may not coincide with real event sequence but can be taken as example to simulate any terrorist attack of that sort.
As soon as people and railway staff came to know about terrorists, anyone from public could have rushed to nearby PCO where assuming government has made mandatory to install cameras to capture identification of caller, and had given information regarding terrorists on an nationally identified number which automatically sends voice or SMS. The information is captured by local telephone exchange officer on his mobile, Local police station. Upon confirming identity of caller from PCO owner or otherwise, telecom exchange officer sends message from his exchange which is flashed at all the mobiles connected at that time with that exchange, on local TV channels/ cable operators , nearby railway station/airport/hotels/hospitals LAN etc. Meanwhile if attack is during night, that areas electricity can be shut off by taking in loop electricity board officers at local level. All roads can be blocked and traffic could have been diverted. If people at Taj or Oberai had come to know about incident at CST and were knowing about terrorist at large, they could have been more cautious and could have gone to safer place. They could have switched off hotel power supply and done many things to safeguard their lives.
Even if police ATS chief upon receiving information had asked his staff to pass this on at all public places or if he had been connected with one number to all public places contacts he could have alerted. I think if ATS can not think and has no plan or policy for responding to terror attacks, we the citizens can contribute and make plans and mechanisms for them.
I think communication is the key and government can use their communication skills, existing vast BSNL, national and also private TV networks to pass on the information/alert and some specific direction at the time of crises.
Reiterating what I have suggested above,
1. Effective use of PCOs can be made. Even mobiles can be used if identification of caller can be established.
2. There has to be one common national number, very well publicised and easily accessible like 100 which connects automatically to local telephone exchange officer, police where any one having seen any suspicious activity can call free of charge and PCOs can be modified to capture caller identification, like camera without which call can not be made from PCO. Or use of mobiles if caller identification is possible can be allowed.
3. Telephone exchange officer has be made responsible for flashing the specific and correct input to various communication channels.
4. All public places should be get regular inputs and flashes and have clear cut instructions for public for such times
5.I wonder if IB and RAW instead of passing on information to state police and useless politicians can pass this on National TV channels and on telephone networks, will do much better. If police can't do at least public can save its life on its own by avoiding possible troubled spots.
Let us go back to incidents which took place on 26 th November and see what could have been achieved using efficient comm.
Here I am assuming certain sequence for events which may not coincide with real event sequence but can be taken as example to simulate any terrorist attack of that sort.
As soon as people and railway staff came to know about terrorists, anyone from public could have rushed to nearby PCO where assuming government has made mandatory to install cameras to capture identification of caller, and had given information regarding terrorists on an nationally identified number which automatically sends voice or SMS. The information is captured by local telephone exchange officer on his mobile, Local police station. Upon confirming identity of caller from PCO owner or otherwise, telecom exchange officer sends message from his exchange which is flashed at all the mobiles connected at that time with that exchange, on local TV channels/ cable operators , nearby railway station/airport/hotels/hospitals LAN etc. Meanwhile if attack is during night, that areas electricity can be shut off by taking in loop electricity board officers at local level. All roads can be blocked and traffic could have been diverted. If people at Taj or Oberai had come to know about incident at CST and were knowing about terrorist at large, they could have been more cautious and could have gone to safer place. They could have switched off hotel power supply and done many things to safeguard their lives.
Even if police ATS chief upon receiving information had asked his staff to pass this on at all public places or if he had been connected with one number to all public places contacts he could have alerted. I think if ATS can not think and has no plan or policy for responding to terror attacks, we the citizens can contribute and make plans and mechanisms for them.
I think communication is the key and government can use their communication skills, existing vast BSNL, national and also private TV networks to pass on the information/alert and some specific direction at the time of crises.
Reiterating what I have suggested above,
1. Effective use of PCOs can be made. Even mobiles can be used if identification of caller can be established.
2. There has to be one common national number, very well publicised and easily accessible like 100 which connects automatically to local telephone exchange officer, police where any one having seen any suspicious activity can call free of charge and PCOs can be modified to capture caller identification, like camera without which call can not be made from PCO. Or use of mobiles if caller identification is possible can be allowed.
3. Telephone exchange officer has be made responsible for flashing the specific and correct input to various communication channels.
4. All public places should be get regular inputs and flashes and have clear cut instructions for public for such times
5.I wonder if IB and RAW instead of passing on information to state police and useless politicians can pass this on National TV channels and on telephone networks, will do much better. If police can't do at least public can save its life on its own by avoiding possible troubled spots.
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