Armed guards will return to municipal corp

From the BMC8217;s existing guards, a group of 100 will be selected for special training in arms and specialised security techniques. Civic officials said representatives from the police training college and army will be contacted to provide the training. Most BMC guards do not even have firing practice; a special range will be set up at the Bhandup complex. Construction for the same will begin soon.

The civic administration has already reviewed its security in the past few days, arming its guards, making ID cards compulsory for visitors and advising corporators to reduce the number of party activists being brought to the headquarters and against parking their cars in the vicinity of the building.

Another step being taken by the BMC is the installation of a satellite communication system, aimed at ensuring that communication is not hit during a disaster, if one happens.

The Tetra system, short of Terrestrial Trunked Radio Access, will be in use by June, set up at a cost of Rs 65 crore. The key feature of Tetra is that it allows one to communicate even when mobile and landline phone networks fail during heavy rains or disasters.

The disaster management wing and the fire brigade will get 800 mobile portable radio sets so that they can be in touch at all times. Command control vehicles and 20 base stations, each covering an area of 20 km, will be set up.

A team of IIT professors are working on technical specification of the system. Expressions of interest will be invited soon.