The Mumbai police team, trained in handling terror attacks leading to CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) hazards, would have been perfect to help deal with the gas leak.
While the authorities were at their wits’ end to handle the chlorine gas leak at the Sewri port last week, specialists, making up a team ideal for tackling such situations, were cooling their heels at their office.
The Mumbai police team, trained in handling terror attacks leading to CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) hazards, would have been perfect to help deal with the gas leak. Why it was not pressed into service is because despite its personnel being trained, they have not yet been given equipment. Also, police officers insist the team will be pressed into service only during terror attacks.
The team was constituted after 26/11. In May this year, its 56 commandos — 30 from Force One and 26 from the quick response team — finished CBRN training with the western unit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The team was also trained in handling chemical leaks, like the Sewri incident. But a senior police officer said that under no circumstances will the team be engaged during non-terror situations. “During chemical leaks, state and central agencies, such as the NDRF, should come into action for rescue work,” the officer said.
But what about hands-on experience? What is the harm in the team working during non-terror situations but which have similar ramifications? After all, what is the difference between a terrorist engineering a chemical leak and a chemical leak occurring due to corrosion in storage tanks?
“We will conduct mock drills to keep the team active,” said another police officer. “Police action in cases such as the chlorine leak is limited to coordination, evacuation and first response, till experts, like NDRF personnel, reach the scene.”
Even if the argument of the CBRN team being pressed into duty only during terror attacks is accepted, the fact remains that the team would be toothless if an attack were to indeed take place.
Rajnish Seth, joint commissioner of police, law and order, said: “The CBRN team does not have equipment such as gas masks and oxygen cylinders. We are working on a proposal on equipping CBRN personnel and will soon present it to the government.”
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