Last year, Mumbai was shell-shocked by a terrorist attack that left more than 195 people dead and countless more injured.
The deployment of paramilitary troops outside the The Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels suggests a higher level of security, one year after militants laid siege to the city. Of course, this assumes that terror, if it were to strike again, would choose the exact same targets as last year.
Even assuming that the targets would remain the same, CST, Mumbai's main train station where gunmen attacked and claimed most of their 166 victims during 26/11, remains woefully under-protected. Door-frame metal detectors here are unmanned; luggage is not checked. Mumbai's coastline, too, used by the gunmen to enter, is still largely unpoliced.
"Nothing has changed. We are no better off than we were on 26/11," says Ajai Sahni, a senior security analyst at the Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi.
"I can't say there won't be another attack or a blast," Mumbai police chief D Sivanandhan has been quoted as saying. "But if something happens, our response will be quicker and better." Sivanandhan cites recent additions like quick-response teams, speedboats, combat vehicles and a new hub for elite commandoes as measures taken to improve police preparedness.
India has also raised its defence budget by a fourth, and allowed private firms to hire paramilitary forces for security purposes.
Considering that the Centre has had a year to bolster its security and intelligence set-up, do you feel any safer today than you did right after 26/11?
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