Delhi to put hospital staff, students on bomb watch

NEW DELHI: In the aftermath of the serial blasts in the capital that killed 24 people and injured over a 100, Delhi hospitals have come up with a proposal to get their staff trained to identify bombs and suspicious looking people so that they could avert tragedies.

The Delhi government on Tuesday accepted the move and has agreed to organise lessons for the hospital staff.

Senior hospital officials said since terrorists had carried out blasts in hospitals in Ahmedabad and also planted bombs in hospitals in Jaipur, it was important for staff to know how to identify bombs so that they could avert similar attempts in Delhi.

“After any such tragedy, it becomes difficult to control the crowd because of the rush of injured and the dead. It is very easy for someone to take advantage of the chaos and plant bombs in the hospital,” said a senior Delhi government official.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has also decided to impart training to school children and college students because they comprise the largest number of shoppers and commuters. “It’s a ready force that can help identify suspicious moving people and inform the police,” added the officer.

The decision was made to avert any such serial blasts that have twice rocked the national capital in the past three years. Especially with the festival season on the anvil, it is feared terrorists might try to carry out blasts as a lot of people would be out on the roads to celebrate Eid, Durga Puja and Diwali.

v_gyan@dnaindia.net