Cops test their response time with mock drill

To check its response time in the event of a terror attack,the police officials in the Zone 1 of South Mumbai conducted a mock drill near Inox theatre on Tuesday evening. Assistant Police Inspector Jadhav from the Marine Drive police station said,“It was decided by the senior officials of Zone 1 to conduct a mock drill to test the response time and other factors in the event of any untoward incident.” The drill started at around 5 pm and went on for an hour.

However,the passers-by got scared on seeing the men in uniform bearing arms and taking positions. Sandeep Shirgaonkar,a youth from Mulund who had come to Inox for work,said,“Initially,when I heard the blaring klaxons and saw the police vehicles and armed personnel,I thought that some terrorist activity had taken place again. I had seen the coverage of the terror attacks on television and for a moment thought that it was happening again. It was after some time I realised that it was a mock drill.”

Additional Commissioner of Police (South Region) R K Padmanabhan,said,“Such drills are being conducted on a regular basis since the 26/11 attacks. The main motive behind such drills is to improve the response time and test the alertness and preparedness of the police personnel. Over the few days,it has been evident that the first response time of the forces has improved. Earlier (pre-26/11),the first response time of the force was around 6 minutes but now with continuous training and rehearsals,it is much lesser.”