INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - JULY 2006
THE MONTH THAT WAS...

BOMBED, NOT BOWED

JULY IS the cruellest month for Mumbaikars whose patience and resilience is being put to new tests. Seven deadly blasts rocked the city's western railway system at rush hour on Tuesday killing at least 163 and injuring more than 250. The blasts ripped open first class train compartments, threw bodies on railway tracks, sent panic-stricken people running onto the roads and revived painful memories of the 1993 serial blasts that killed 228 and injured more than 1,200.

For a city that had always prided itself on its work ethic, professionalism, a can-do attitude, and a model for the rest of the country, the blasts were a reminder of how much things have changed. Last July's deluge exposed the soft underbelly of the city's infrastructure, while Tuesday's blasts showed its vulnerability to sudden, vicious attacks capable of destroying its confidence. Together, they are likely to reinforce Mumbai's growing image as a scary, ungovernable city with creaky infrastructure and even poorer security.

On June 1, Maharashtra deputy chief minister RR Patil had warned that the state was on top of the target list of ultras. Seizures of large caches of arms and ammunition over the past few months had reinforced this impression among police and intelligence officials. But Maharashtra and especially Mumbai are no strangers to terrorist attacks. The 1993 blasts had killed 228 people in the city and shocked the entire country. But Mumbai had bounced back the very next day.

Mumbaikars face an uneasy next few days. Companies and businesses are going to have to put up with extra days of uncertainty as train services on the western railway line remain disrupted and employees prefer to stay at home. Shops multiplexes and malls will see lower footfalls while the sentiment of stock market investors, already nervous over global interest rates, is expected to plunge sharply. The political impact is likely to be huge. Observers feel that it will create a sense of fear that could work to the advantage of Sena-BJP, which had been consistently accusing the Congress of being soft on terrorism. The blasts were coordinated and planned with deadly precision. The seven blasts took place within 20 minutes of each other. Like the bombers of London and Madrid , they were timed at the rush hour when commuters were heading back home in droves.

The first blast was reported near Khar station in Mumbai at 6.20 pm on a Borivli-bound train from Churchgate. The second blast at 6.35 pm at Mahim station, while the third and the fourth blast happened at Jogeshwari and Borivli at 6.40 and 6.43 pm.

The fifth blast was reported from Bhayander at 6:43 pm while the sixth one took place at Matunga at 6.47 pm . The seventh blast took place in the Khar-Santa Cruz subway at 6.50 pm .

Mumbai's suburban train services carry 65 lakh commuters every day with the bulk of the travel happening in the morning and evening peak hours. All seven were high-intensity explosions and initial reports said wired time devices were used in all the cases.

The railways, already suffering from a creaky infrastructure and overload during the monsoons, are likely to be further impacted by the deadly blasts.

According to who was on the spot at Khar station within five minutes of the blast saw one side of the compartment completely ripped apart.

“The bomb might have been under the seat in this train as the roof and the other side was intact,” he said. The blast was strong enough to toss some passengers in air. Eyewitnesses said a large number of people were seriously injured and all trains on the western line route had been suspended. “The blasts happened when the trains were most crowded,” Maharashtra chief secretary DK Shankaran said. So far, no one is believed to have claimed responsibility.

A few minutes after the incident the tracks were flooded with people, onlookers and shocked commuters who jumped off the trains. According to another passenger police were on the spot within 10 minutes. The city police chief AN Roy said the blasts could be linked to terrorists nabbed by the state police recently. In a major state wide operations, the Mumbai and state police in the last two months have recovered huge cache of arms and a large quantity of RDX, three times bigger that was used in ‘93 serial blasts. The police have also arrested over a dozen alleged militants in this connection.

All local phones, including mobile services, in the city had jammed apparently due to congestion in the system as anxious people tried to reach their loved ones. The police have cordoned off all railway stations on the western line and strict frisking and checking were carried out at the central and harbour sections of local trains services.

As a precaution, the city airport was today put on high alert following a series of bomb blast in the suburban trains killing and injuring many.

“The airport has been put under high alert...We have deployed additional companies of quick reaction team commandos to tackle any situation in case of an eventuality,” airport officials.

The flight operations were not affected but the security was enhanced, sources added.