Mumbai Police Surveillance And Equipment Boost Since 26/11

Last updated on November 27th, 2023 at 11:53 am

Drawing lessons from the terror attack 15 years ago on 26/11, the Mumbai Police have boosted its surveillance tactics and equipment. After Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists infiltrated India’s waterways into Mumbai in 2008 and killed as many as 166 people and injured scores at the CST Railway Station, and Coloba, as well as other locations, a slew of measures were announced.

The Mumbai Police has had a major upgrade in its surveillance equipment and manpower. This includes patrol boats, drones, CCTV cameras, and bulletproof armored vehicles. There’s also a marine wing, which would coordinate with the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy to secure the Indian waters.

India has been one of the world’s most consistent targets of Islamist militants. And following 26/11, the central government and Mumbai state government enhanced their respective domestic counterterrorism infrastructure.

Mumbai Prepared

Satyanarayan Chaudhary, joint commissioner of police, said they have an advanced police control room that monitors the city 24 hours a day. “Besides having nearly 45,000 plus manpower, we rope in private police whenever required. We have an adequate number of Quick Response Teams (QRTs), armored vehicles, weapons and a coordinated system to counter and handle any attack or emergency situation.”

Moreover, the government has set up 6,000 CCTV cameras across Mumbai so that the city is under round-the-clock surveillance. The CCTV footages are monitored by the video walls at the police control rooms. The Mumbai Police said their men work shifts at the video walls. The cameras are also used for keeping watch on traffic jams and street crimes.

Mumbai Police Boats

With the scars of the terrorist attacks still fresh, Mumbai Police acquired 46 boats to patrol the city’s coast, but now only eight boats are functional – 23 speed boats, 19 amphibious boats and four Sealeg boats were at disposal. 

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A senior police officer said the amphibious boats and four Sealegs were procured from a company in New Zealand. “We were to send our personnel there to get know how and training in repairing these boats. However, things did not work out and the boats started developing snags due to which a majority of them are no longer operational.”

The police have requested the Home Department for 22 additional boats, whereby 12 would be for coastal patrolling.