The 26/11 attack should have taught a lesson. But it seems the administration is still to wake up to the troubled waters surrounding the city.

Seashores in and around the city continue to be vulnerable. A small jetty, a stone’s throw from key nuclear installation, the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (Barc) in Trombay, is exposed to any intruder coming by the sea. There is no guard, no cover, except for a couple of patrol boats making one or two rounds during the day, and that too from a distance.

The jetty is primarily used by fishermen for loading and unloading their boats. Trombay police and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are supposed to man the shore  round-the-clock. But, a visit by a DNA team on Wednesday afternoon revealed that in terms of “beefing up” security along the coast, little has changed since the terror attack.
Reaching the jetty, we befriended a few fishermen and jumped into a boat for a paltry sum.

We were in the sea for three long hours. No patrol boat crossed our path, and when we returned to the jetty, no guard challenged us. 

There are several key installations nearby the jetty - the Naval Armament Depot; office of the Defence Security Corps, Mumbai; headquarters of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and residential quarters of Navy officers. Though every office has its own security guards, they would come to no avail in the face of a 26/11-like attack.

“We have hardly seen any police patrol or security checks near the jetty,” said a local fisherman. “If at all there is any patrolling, it is probably carried out in distant areas.” He, however, assured that Barc was well guarded. “If we take our boats anywhere near it, we are shooed away by securitymen.” 

Two boats, named Godavari and Krishna, used by Trombay police and the CISF for patrolling the sea round-the-clock do not come near the jetty, said the fisherman. “The boats do not come near the jetty as the water level is low. They will get stuck in the muddy waters.”

A senior officer of Trombay police said that they regularly patrol the areas where the water in deep enough for their boat to ply.

 

Source : DNAIndia