In the city where 70 lakh commuters travel by trains daily frisking every passenger is virtually an impossible task, says R R Patil.
NEW DELHI: A fortnight after powerful bombs killed 200 people on Mumbai's suburban trains the Maharashtra Government says securing the metropolis' mammoth public transport system is no "child's play".
In the city where nearly 70 lakh commuters travel by suburban trains daily frisking every passenger is virtually an impossible task, says Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil.
The government survey has revealed a huge shortage of security personnel at railway stations, particularly for tasks like frisking.
"The survey found that 3,500 people enter Churchgate station of the Western Railway every minute," Patil said adding at least an equal number of policemen would have to be deployed to frisk passengers briskly.
A slight delay in passenger checks could lead to serpentine queues blocking traffic and lead to chaos outside the station.
"Securing Mumbai is no child's play," Patil, also the state Home Minister, said during a recent visit to the capital.
The Mumbai police have 32,000 personnel on its rolls to protect the 15 million population of the metropolis, while there are just 4,000 policemen for the security of nearly seven million people who travel on suburban trains daily.
About 29 million people reside in the Mumbai region which comprises the neighbouring Thane district and the satellite city of Navi Mumbai.
Though Maharashtra has added 11,000 additional personnel to its police force, its strength has now reached 1.4 lakh, which was the required strength in 1960.
Another survey in 1990 suggested that the state required at least 2.25 lakh policemen to maintain peace and calm in the state.
"But that was before the 1993 bomb blasts. It was when terrorism did not exist in the state, now we even require police to protect statues of prominent persons installed at every nook and corner," said Patil.
The less numbers of police men in the state force has taken its toll and a recent survey by McKinsey found that 70 per cent policemen do not get even a weekly off for three months and each one puts in 14 hours of work daily.
Patil said despite the shortage, the state police have effectively secured the state from various threats.
The state has ambitious plans to increase its police force to provide effective security to its citizens. There are several hurdles in the way to augment the force, the main being lack of adequate training facilities.
Patil, however, puts up a brave face saying that the state would raise additional force to combat the fresh challenges.
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