Mumbai: Just a month ago, terrorists attacked two five-star hotels a stones throw away, but security at Mantralaya, the seat of the Maharashtra government, is still far from satisfactory.
Half the baggage screeners at the gates don't work and policemen deployed to secure the premises don't wear the bulletproof jackets given to them because they are "unbearably heavy".
Screening machines at gates 2, 7, and 11 are not in working order and visitors and their belongings are either checked manually or sent to the other gates. The scanner at gate 3 has just been repaired. One of the gates at the rear is kept closed as no scanner has been installed there.
The policemen guarding Mantralaya do not wear bulletproof jackets saying they are very heavy. "The weight of the carbine and the jacket crosses 13kg (5+8) and its impossible to carry them longer than a couple of hours," said a constable deployed at one of the gates. "The bulletproof jacket not only suffocates the person who is wearing it, but also causes back pain." So the policemen protect the chairs with the jackets.
"The new bulletproof jackets are heavier than the ones our commandos have," said an official associated with security at Mantralaya, not wanting to be named. "The constables wearing these jackets are supposed to be relieved every two hours, but we are understaffed and don't have adequate replacements."
Additional commissioner of police (protection branch) Vasant Kargaonkar said adequate measures were being taken to ensure the security of Mantralaya but refused to say what they were because "it would not be proper to reveal the plan".
About the defective scanners, he said, "Every electronic machine faces a problem one day or the other. They are repaired as soon as possible."
Kargaonkar also said there were no complaints on record to suggest the bulletproof jackets were unbearably heavy.
