Mumbai:
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan revealed today that in the first fifteen minutes after Wednesday's serial blasts in Mumbai, he was unable to call his senior-most police officers and bureaucrats because mobile networks were congested. Mr Chavan also explained why he does not believe that the latest terror attacks amount to an intelligence failure. He spoke to NDTV's Barkha Dutt. This is the transcript of the interview.
NDTV: As Mumbai is struggling to come to terms with the latest serial blasts that have hit the city, there are many, many questions, and still not enough answers. So many Mumbaikars are asking 'why this city, over and over and over again?' Remember this was a city that was just beginning to emerge from the shadow of 26/11. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra has already described these attacks as an attack, not just on Mumbai, but on the heart of India. He's facing what many people say is his toughest challenge nine months into his tenure as Chief Minister. Prithviraj Chavan joins us now. Mr Chavan, some very tense and harrowing last 24 hours?
Prithviraj Chavan: Yes, it was definitely a sad, harrowing experience. When I heard the news, I was meeting people without appointment at 6-7 in the evening in Mantralaya. Fortunately, I was in the Mantralaya and not out of station. The moment I got the news, I quickly concluded the interaction and straightaway headed for the Mantralaya Control Room. And from that point, it was easy to operate. I was there till late night, about 3 am. The Union Home Minister Mr Chidambaram landed around 1 am, he visited the blast sites. I went with him to one site and we visited hospitals, and then we came back straight to my office and we had a meeting at 1:30 am, going over what had happened. Only at about 2:30 am, we left for the guest house and we agreed to hold the press conference the next morning. And I think we knew what was happening. One of the positives and negatives after 26/11, you know, that a committee had gone into what needs to be done.
NDTV: The Ram Pradhan Committee.
Prithviraj Chavan: The Ram Pradhan Committee had given some reports, those are being implemented. Central government has also told us to. They did a lot of things, like setting up the NSG centers and all that. One of the outcomes of that report and aftermath of 26/11 was that we had set up three control rooms: one in Mantralaya, one in Mumbai Police Headquarters and one in Bombay Municipal Corporation office. The BMC control room was primarily to interact with hospitals. The Police control room is obviously always Police control room, and the Mantralaya control room has all the telephone numbers, the maps, all that is required in a control room. That came in very handy. One of the negatives that happened was that immediately after the incident took place it was on television in a matter of seconds.
NDTV: Broadcasted.
Prithviraj Chavan: Somebody must have sent an SMS to somebody and it went out. Our Police vehicles went there very quickly. But the communication, mobile communication, completely collapsed.
NDTV: The networks got congested?
Prithviraj Chavan: Networks got congested. I could not contact the Chief of Police, I could not contact DG Police.
NDTV: Are you serious? The Chief Minister of Maharashtra was not able to get in touch with his top most police officers because the phone lines were congested?
Prithviraj Chavan: For 15 minutes.
NDTV: That's serious.
Prithviraj Chavan: Yes, that is very serious. Till we organised the wireless apparatus, wireless apparatus then came online. Of course, they were also not in a position to take calls and answer because they were immediately trying to organise relief. But there is a lacuna which needs to be plugged that we should always been in command. There is a possibility of carrying satellite phones with key people, there is also a possibility of a dedicated mobile network which has been worked out with Central government and security agencies.
NDTV: How much time did you lose because of the congested phone lines?
Prithviraj Chavan: First blast was at 6:54-6:55.
NDTV: 6:54?
Prithviraj Chavan: Yes 6:55. The next one was one minute later and the third one was at 7:05. So the total period was 10 minutes. The news started trickling around 7 o'clock. Between 7 and 7:10, that was the time when all the phone lines got jammed. This is definitely a lacuna, but people were doing their jobs. It's only that we were not on top of the position for 10 minutes or so. The Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary...
NDTV: But those 10 minutes are crucial because they are the first response time.
Prithviraj Chavan: Yes, but then fortunately again, the standard operating procedures kicked in, so it was not that we could have contributed anything special, like telling 'okay go to the blast site'... that was not necessary.
NDTV: But Sir, you couldn't use your wireless to get in touch with the Police Chief?
Prithviraj Chavan: That's what they did. Wireless, distance limitations are there and I think...
NDTV: Or SAT phones? They were not in operation?
Prithviraj Chavan: SAT phones were not considered, that's a lacuna. We have to look at that. But not that anything mattered because of that, except that we were in a tense position. I called the Union Home Minister immediately. Shortly thereafter, I talked to the Prime Minister, to the Congress President, and told them that 'such a thing has happened'. There were rumours floating and they had to be squelched. Rumours that additional bombs have been placed, additional bomb blasts have taken place, some bombs were recovered. That had to be completely stopped. We started then getting the estimates of the damage. The first priority was obviously to move the people, who were injured and hurt, to the nearest hospitals. And I think that system also worked really well.
NDTV: People have said that mostly the first response came from the citizens, it was the citizens who bundled the injured into taxis, but in India, this is not just specific to Mumbai, we don't have an emergency medical response system ambulances are never able to reach in time.
Prithviraj Chavan: See if you look at the practicality, the hospitals are where they are, and by the time the information goes that this is where it has happened, exactly the approach, because this is a very very crowded hour, and it would naturally take a few minutes for the ambulances to take. Now, people who are present in a very, very crowded place act, period, not waiting for an ambulance to come and they need to act. And of course some of them may not have been medically trained but they were well-intentioned people who acted. But I think to say that ambulances did not reach but the people really helped is, I think you have to give the logistics some, 21 ambulances were dispatched from whatever nearby hospitals were there as per the standard operating procedure and they reached. They would have taken 5-7 minutes to reach and by the time some people who had...
NDTV: Who were already in their taxis going...
Prithviraj Chavan: They did that. But primarily it was ambulances which moved seriously injured people to 13 hospitals. Immediately, the hospital teams which were alerted the moment the news broke out, the teams were there in place, the operation theaters had been made ready, blood was organised, people were called from their homes, everything was in place. So I think that system worked well. I think we've been able to attend to the injured, 133 of them, immediately. People went into operation theaters within half an hour after reaching, emergency treatment was given instantaneously, there were private hospitals, there were public hospitals, and all of them responded marvelously.
NDTV: Now can I ask you at this point what everybody wants to know is, what are the leads that are being looked at? We know some of them. We know the crucial close circuit television footage is being examined. But one thing that has emerged is the possibility that there could have been a suicide bomber. There are two reasons for this as you would know better than me. One was a gentleman where the foot had a kind of circuitry device embedded in it. The other, which is unusual for the intensity of the blast that we've seen, is that there was actually a body with a severed head. I imagine the latter is being looked at for the possibility of a suicide bomber?
Prithviraj Chavan: Well I think I'll not dwell greatly into the investigation or motives or who was behind it or what exactly happened. What has been given to the public so far is that ammonium nitrate was used, that it was ammonium nitrate, fuel oil kind of device, that it was electronically timed. This is clear. If it was electronically timed there is a possibility of a circuit, a remote-controlled circuit. If that is believed, then the possibility of suicide bomber is ruled out. If you have a bomber with a switch in your hand then you don't a remote-triggered device. So, the possibility of a circuit indicates that it was remotely timed, but that is being looked at very carefully. The nature of the body being found could be because there was something attached to the body or also because it was too close to the point of impact. So, I think let's not speculate.
NDTV: You are saying it is unclear right now, it can't be ruled out, it can't be ruled in?
Prithviraj Chavan: No, I have instructed that no theory, no group, no suspicious thing should be ruled out. And there is a tendency of late, and you have seen a number of incidents where we jump to a conclusion that a particular group would have done it. So, I told police not to do that, but to look at almost remotest possibility also should not be given up. There are many, many teams that have been created. We have ATS which is working at it. Mr. Maria is looking at the full process. They are being assisted by NIA team, the NSG team from Delhi and we also got the crime branch which cracked the Jay Dey murder case, they are also working closely. I think it's still early time. Of course CCTV footage will indicate, but quality of footage may not be great, also it was raining very hard and the crowds, as you know at that time, literally thousands of people mill cheek to cheek in one place after they get out of the office and they have some eatables and there are some dhabas lined up there. It's a very narrow gulley. Then other places also equally crowded. Obviously, the bombs were planted for maximum impact. And if you compare in the Pune blasts and the 17 deaths in these three blasts, two blasts caused deaths, also 17 deaths. Although it was not a very high-intensity RDX type of explosion the fact that people were so closely packed.
NDTV: They chose densely populated areas, obviously. I take your point about not speculating but let me just understand and clarify what you are saying. You are saying that the police is looking at the possibility, all possibilities, including that of a suicide bomber but if circuitry was used and it was remotely triggered then that eliminates that theory?
Prithviraj Chavan: Well, I will not eliminate any theory. But if we logically look at it, if there was a remote-controlled device, there is no need to keep it on the body and sacrifice an operator. So, the possibility of an explosive kept on a body and remotely controlled doesn't look logical.
NDTV: And do we know whether they were remotely triggered or not at this point?
Prithviraj Chavan: No, there was a circuit.
NDTV: There was a circuit.
Prithviraj Chavan: There was apparently a circuit. Now circuit could have been from anything a radio, a mobile phone. Circuit is a circuit unless a circuit is linked to a trigger device. Some reports say there was a timer identified and a detonator identified. We are looking at that. Of course, the first priority on the first day was people. People who have been injured. There were teams that were looking at the forensic evidence. The Delhi teams came, the NSG, the forensic lab people, they all came they collected the vital clues. It was raining so some of the clues could have been lost. The blood samples were taken, DNA analysis all that has been taken. There were some body parts and it will probably be very difficult to connect them. After the medical emergency was over, after the VIP visits were over, I think now the task at hand is to piece together if there were any lacuna, could it have been prevented. Obviously, there was no tipoff earlier, explained by Union Home Minister earlier also. We didn't have any tipoff or actionable intelligence on this incident. We got, after the intelligence sharing mechanism was formally there, it was always there, but it was formally consolidated, we got over 150 intelligence inputs over this year. Now, many of them were about the World Cup Cricket matches. So you could eliminate about 30, 35, 40 of them. Then others were specifically about locations, about a general activity, the trains will be attacked, the railway stations will be attacked, a particular date like the important date would be attacked. All those tip-offs were there. So nothing specific that a particular area would be targetted. These areas like Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House are most vulnerable as are railway stations as are iconic buildings like hotels and others. People do it either for maximum damage in terms of deaths and injury or for the quality of targets. The 26/11 targets were chosen because there would be very influential people staying in the hotels. While a place like Zaveri Bazaar would be chosen because there are diamond traders and diamond brokers, relatively richer people. In the railway station you would get different kinds. So these are the targets that they choose.
NDTV: Your intelligence warnings were general and not specific. Is that what you are saying?
Prithviraj Chavan: That's right. That is what Mr. Chidambaram also informed the...
NDTV: Now at that press conference that both of you addressed together, Mr. Chidambaram made the argument that although there was no intelligence input, and he said that was unfortunate, this should not be called an intelligence failure. How do you reconcile those two positions? If there was no intelligence, isn't it an intelligence failure of sorts?
Prithviraj Chavan: Well I think it'll be very harsh to jump to that conclusion. It will also be assuming that every activity that anybody plans does come with a series of intelligence leads that we failed to look at. Now even 9/11 happened. And even if you could say it is an intelligence failure. Yes a massive operation of that sorts where multiple agencies, multiple people, multiple nationalities travel across continents, the leads become many. In a very simple operation where one or two people could assemble a homemade IED, and just one person could place it, the possibility of generating intelligence leads are very less. And therefore, if you don't generate any leads which can be acted upon, then the possibility of catching them becomes less and less. So intelligence is a much larger system where a lot people act on it. Inputs come from international agencies, input comes from sharing between various intelligence agencies, countries, at the national level, at the state level, other states and all of them share and some common patterns and common themes are, there's also human intelligence, you talk to informers. All that jigsaw puzzle is pieced together in regular weekly meetings, monthly meetings, quarterly meetings and one tries to draw some pattern also from international travel, from known people who travel and sudden activity, we do that. See this kind of a thing, obviously nobody tipped off, obviously there was no purchase of heavy equipment or transportation of explosives all that. It was quite a simple kind of operation and therefore I think specific actionable inputs on these attacks were not there.
NDTV: You know some local media reports have suggested this morning that there is a particular person who is on the watch of the ATS connected to Indian Mujahideen, and just six hours before the blast he went missing, that he was being put under surveillance for selling cars to the Indian Mujahideen and he went missing. I am quoting from local media reports. Has there been any internal assessment of this possible slip?
Prithviraj Chavan: There are hundreds of such items being traced. Some of them get leaked out, some of them go to the media from the other side. It's not that police leaks out or police informs. All of them are being checked out. They may be collected, they may be related, they may not be related. And also, trying to point out at one particular group may not be right because then we stop looking at other leads and that is not the best thing.
NDTV: Is there any prime facie assessment of which group it might be?
Prithviraj Chavan: No, what we have done prima facie is that we have set up many, many working task forces, many of them. And they have been tasked to look at one particular aspect, including the Left wing terrorism. If you think is a very, very low possibility, possibly .001 percent.
NDTV: People were very surprised to find that sort of reference being alluded to. I mean that never happened in Mumbai before. Why are we looking at that?
Prithviraj Chavan: Because there are some worrisome instances that these groups are trying to get into urban areas.
NDTV: Is this a realistic lead Mr. Chavan or theoretical one?
Prithviraj Chavan: It's a very, very low probability. I said even 0.001 percent. Even such a remote possibility first ruled out that "no this is not yet". And it's not to say that we are trying to divert attention from one or the other. Underworld links are being probed, there was something like that. There was some vengeance, individual vengeance angle to it. All of them being looked. But obviously the pattern of such attacks points out to a particular direction. That will be the main direction where people will look into.
NDTV: The BJP says that your government is being politically correct by identifying the group and when it comes to saffron terror it is very quick to name the groups but right now you are deliberating obfuscating on the names.
Prithviraj Chavan: It is for the Maharashtra Government to communicate the way it likes. I think we had a fairly good success at cracking these cases. What we are worried about is not to let them happen at the first place. After they have happened, we've had good charge with prosecuted people, so I don't think we are getting any political mileage out of it. Actually, I was very upset that one of the major political parties tried to politicise it. Of course they have got every right to criticise but there is a time and a place. When people are facing misery, to start shouting slogans and...
NDTV: That happened to you when you went to the hospital, the local BJP people raised slogans against you.
Prithviraj Chavan: But I could have gone in the backdoor and quietly sneaked into it. I did not want to do it. I wanted to meet the media and told the media also that I will meet you at the appropriate time. I have been interacting with the media with whatever information I had. So I think, there is a time and a place. The session in the Assembly will begin shortly and we are going to discuss all these events, overall security scenario in the state at the end. I think that is the forum. Let us not politicise it at all. It's an attack on human beings, real people.
NDTV: But aren't you deflecting a little bit when you talk of Left wing extremism being ruled out as a possibility?
Prithviraj Chavan: I am sorry if it is seen like that.
NDTV: Because no one really believes, that is what happened here.
Prithviraj Chavan: Precisely the point that if you already jump to conclusions, this has to be one group and therefore, you start asking question, that are you suspecting that group? Why are we saying that also? Let the Police do the job. I just gave that name as an example, not to deflect anything at all. Please understand that. All I said is that there are 12 teams being formed, that teams would even include underworld. Obviously, one could say that it does not involve underworld, but I think it would be very simple to eliminate that. We had reports that some activity in urban areas is happening. It is not to scare anybody. We have to be very careful. There are special groups that look at a particular activity, groups that look at underworld, groups that look at particular type of terror organisation.
NDTV: So 12 types of task groups are being formed to look into different angles of this investigation?
Prithviraj Chavan: They will of course become less and less over a period of time.
NDTV: Now it seems that at one of the CCTV's or camera on sites of Opera House, there are images of three-four people talking for an extremely long time and this is being considered as a significant lead?
Prithviraj Chavan: Well as I said, I do not want to enter a domain which is not my expertise. As you know, diamond trade or any trade for that matter, in the financial city like Mumbai, it all happens on phones. People talking on phones is not very unusual but if you want to link that to what had happened, as if somebody was relaying a running commentary, I think that is a far-fetched idea. People are jumping to conclusions on anything that they come to. I can understand the anxiety, the anger. I completely appreciate that people are angry, that we need quick answers, that we need to punish people quickly. Our system is not very good at punishing people quickly. Although I would compliment the authorities in Mumbai at the Kasab trial which came to a conclusion in a very short time. So we now are improving.
NDTV: Yet people are asking again and again, may be because they are angry and emotional, that look Kasab is still alive. They are pointing to that, they are pointing to the apprehension that it is politicisation, it will take a long time, that in our system people don't get punished.
Prithviraj Chavan: Well, point that it takes a long time is a fact. Maharashtra Police and Maharashtra Government have done what it could, which is to prosecute Kasab and get a conviction. He is under the Constitution, and Indian laws and he is entitled to due process. So far beyond a point we cannot act, that it is his right as a person accused of crime in India. So that process will go on. We need to expedite that. I appreciate the point. That's the way things stand today. It takes time.
NDTV: I want to ask you about the fact that a lot of people have said to me while I have been here, please stop congratulating us for being resolute. We don't want to hear about the spirit of Mumbai, We don't have a choice, "
rozi roti ka sawaal hain", one man said to me at Zaveri Bazaar. We have to get back to our feet and go to work. Do you feel that politicians have started using this phrase: the spirit of Mumbai in a way as an excuse for the inaction or the inability of the system to protect them?
Prithviraj Chavan: I think I would tend to agree with that assessment that we should not overhype spirit of Mumbai. You are right that people have to get back to work, they lose their livelihood otherwise. I think we have to get to do what we do, which is to find out who did it and punish them. I would not use that as an excuse or to run away from the fact that we still have to catch the guilty and punish them. Yes various people have complimented the people of Mumbai for the way after 26/11 attack, which is the most horrid attack the country and the world has ever seen. But people still went about their work. But you are right, there was compulsion also, children had to go to school, people had to go to work. But as an emotional reaction we tend to say that in spite of such a big event people did not sit at home.
NDTV: But may be they did not have a choice.
Prithviraj Chavan: That's right, they do not have a choice as anywhere else in the world, but it's also a first reaction. I would be the last person to use this as an excuse for any error for any error of judgement, mistake, lack of action on the part of authorities. Authorities have to do their work, other people have to go about doing what they are doing, we have to do our work. There is no question of that being used as an excuse for inaction.
NDTV: Now after 26/11, Ram Pradhan Committee made a number of recommendations. People are again talking of how many of these recommendations were not followed. You have of course come into the job just nine months ago. But having stepped in, let's look at one of the key recommendations of state intelligence offices. That proposal is still waiting in the home department. Why this delay? And do you think Mr Chavan...
Prithviraj Chavan: That's not right. You have been misinformed. Ram Pradhan Committee made many recommendations. Many of them have been acted upon. Recommendations also came from Delhi. Interaction between Maharashtra Government and Delhi, many of them have been acted upon. Some have not been able to be completed. I admit that.
NDTV: Why the delay?
Prithviraj Chavan: Let me come to the state intelligence bureau. Maharashtra is the only state in the country, the first in the country to set up a Maharashtra intelligence Academy in Pune. We are recruiting special officers as intelligence officers unlike any other place where people are deputed for intelligence duties and they are sent back for regular duty. We have recruited about 250 officers for this job. We have trained them with foreign experts of intelligence agency, for security experts have trained them. On that aspect we are going ahead. We have got very positive results on that. We have to of course take it to full size and it will take time. There is a problem where we have not been able to procure CCTV cameras.
NDTV: Although there was a proposal, if I am not wrong, of recommending that 5000 of them should be procured.
Prithviraj Chavan: Money is not a problem as such. Whatever numbers are required will be put in. Money is not a problem. Problem is technology keeps on changing and procurement has been a weakness, right from defence procurement to central police procurement to state police procurement. People are just afraid to take decisions about tenders, about specifications.
NDTV: Why are they afraid?
Prithviraj Chavan: For obvious reasons. But people are there a few years at the most.
NDTV: They don't want to get embroiled in some potential controversy.
Prithviraj Chavan: So I think this is a problem. I raised it with PM, with Union Home Minister, Maharashtra Government. When they wanted to buy some weapons, requested Home Minister that if you are going to buy a particular weapon, please piggyback our requirement of five percent, 10 percent on your requirement. But even in Delhi it takes a very very long time to...
NDTV: No, it's everywhere. It's everywhere. It's not specific to Maharashtra.
Prithviraj Chavan: But that is as a nation, together we have to work out.
NDTV: But as a CM, you must feel in a sense frustrated that in the Government which you are presiding over, there was a proposal for procuring 5000 CCTV's and that could not happen?
Prithviraj Chavan: That is right, and I am going to see that it's expedited and I will start doing it. People got embroiled about purchase, about maintenance contract, should it be given on a BOT basis where they will install the equipment and we will pay the...
NDTV: But it sounds like Bureaucracy trapped the proposal.
Prithviraj Chavan: It is. It is a fact. But at the same time with technology moving so fast, that you take a decision today, your equipment arrives after one year, and you are accused of having bought old equipment. But we have to go ahead even if there are accusations, we have to go ahead and do it.
NDTV: So there is a nervousness in a sense about moving on procurements.
Prithviraj Chavan: Everywhere in the country. Not only here.
NDTV: Is there an internal contradiction specific to Maharashtra that a key portfolio like Home is actually held by NCP, your coalition partner. There can be potential areas of friction, that it's an area that perhaps Congress would want to keep for itself?
Prithviraj Chavan: Well, actually, this was the division agreed to by us in 1999 when for the first time Congress-NCP Government was formed. And that pattern, which we used in 1999, was based on the pattern which Shiv Sena-BJP Government had adopted in 1995. I think it was a mistake. We should have re-looked at it. I don't know of any other coalition government in the country where the portfolio of Home, Finance and Planning are not with the CM. But this is also a unique government where the two almost equal partners are running the government, unlike in Delhi or in Calcutta or West Bengal earlier, where there was a very dominant partner and a small party was supporting it. This is a unique coalition. But I think it is not a major problem. We both come from Congress culture. We split in 1999 for some reasons but the basic ethos of working...
NDTV: Is the same. But has it hampered you in this circumstance?
Prithviraj Chavan: There are difficulties at times. Decision making takes time. We have to take everybody on board. But I think this is part of coalition politics. I have worked in Delhi long enough to know that it takes time to get everybody on-board.
NDTV: One of your members of the Government, Ajit Pawar, I know this came up in the Cabinet meeting for discussion, has made the argument that the entry of politicians in these circumstances should be restricted in hospital areas, in blast site areas, it just diverts from the main issue. Do you share that feeling?
Prithviraj Chavan: I think we discussed that informally. It was a Cabinet meeting held only to condole the deaths, not really a security related meeting. But Home Minister did brief about the current state of investigation. And in that discussion, that matter came up. And all of us felt very strongly that when VIPs along with entourage of followers, entered hospital and because of their own status, the Dean has to come and receive them, Dean has to accompany and take them to wards. They put on all sorts of clothing and footwear and mud, enter ICU areas, and there are obvious risks for that. So, I think there should be a protocol of who could be allowed to go to the hospitals. We feel sympathy, we all want to do that. And if we don't do that, then you will accuse...
NDTV: Then the media will say that so and so didn't go...
Prithviraj Chavan: They don't bother to go to the hospital to condole. What needs to be done is code of conduct, who can go? Up to what level? At what time? I mean we need to work at not only for Mumbai but as a National code of conduct. It does distract people who are attending to the patients and they are distracted from their work. I mean it should not happen.
NDTV: I just want to ask you a last question about the circuit that you mentioned existed, because there is so much confusion about it. You are saying that there was a circuit, but can you tell us whether it was embedded in the body or not?
Prithviraj Chavan: I haven't really discussed at length. Yesterday, I was busy with the Home Minister in the morning. We had a long meeting and we had a Cabinet meeting after that, we had the visit of the PM and so I have not gone really into detail of what level the investigation has reached. I have had interaction with the Home Minister. He is looking at it at a much closer level. We will have meeting today. I intend to meet the Opposition leaders today to brief them what has happened.
NDTV: You are going to call an all-party meeting?
Prithviraj Chavan: We will work it out as to what kind of meeting we will have. We will have an all-party meeting to brief them. But I think I will not speculate much on the investigation which is the specialised forte of the ATS that we have formed. They will brief the media at regular intervals. They will also brief me and the political leadership at an appropriate time. But although all of us want to catch hold of this culprit, we are all angry. We all want to catch hold of this culprit. But there is a process. The investigating teams are doing their work.
NDTV: Last question. This is your first, in a sense, test in this situation and we hope it never happens again. Hands on this job, what would you say were the things that worked and what would you say were the things that didn't work, the things that urgently need to be changed and lessons learnt from?
Prithviraj Chavan: Well obviously two things. We have the money but if you can't procure the things which are required then there is obviously something wrong.
NDTV: What urgently needs to be procured?
Prithviraj Chavan: There is a long list of modernisation equipment, even going up to the police housing. There is money. Why can't we get it going? There are modern weapons required, modern intelligence apparatus required, CCTV cameras are required. If there is money and there is willingness to buy, why can't we get it together? That is number one. There are small things like communication apparatus that needs to be strengthened, we have already worked on that. There will be some dedicated apparatus for emergency communications that will come in place very shortly. We also need the radio communication system, the VHS system which was used for the last 20 years, which wasn't serviced and went into disuse with the coming of mobile phones, is being revived again as a back-up communication. That will take some time. Completely modernising it using digital technology for that, and I think that will be put in place. So, of course, there are some lessons. We need better ambulances, we need road maps, we need SOPs as to how to reach a particular point quickly, and also got to educate people as to what should they do in emergency situations. That can always be improved. But I am happy that after 26/11 many other things, the standard operating procedures that we put in place worked, the control rooms worked, they can always be improved. But there are positives and negatives and we have learnt from this exercise further. We will improve things.
NDTV: Well you have got a full plate and a tough job on your hands. Thank you so much.