Could not reach top officers for 15 mins after blast: Chavan

Mumbai:  Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said he could not reach the state’s top officers including the police chief for nearly 15 minutes after the triple blasts here, calling the situation “very serious”. Chavan said the situation arose due to “complete collapse” of mobile communication on Wednesday evening for the first 15 minutes after the terror attack in which 18 persons were killed. “We were in a very tense position”. He said the government was now thinking of having satellite phones or developing a secure communication network. “The mobile communication completely collapsed. The phone lines got jammed. I could not contact the chief of police, the DG police for 15 minutes(after the explosions). [caption id=“attachment_42242” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Chavan  said the government was now thinking of having satellite phones or developing a secure communication network.AFP”]  [/caption] That is very serious. We depended on our mobile phones and radio wireless communication devices,” Chavan told TV channels. Chavan said this lacunae needed to be plugged. “I’ve talked to the national security people to develop a secure network so that the situation like the 15-minute network jam does not happen again,” he added. The Chief Minister said authorities were trying to revive the statewide Very High Frequency(VHF) network as a back up since it is not currently in use. He also spoke of the need to expedite the procurement process of police modernisation equipment, especially CCTV cameras to be installed at prominent places. Chavan also said he was looking into why it was difficult to procure equipments for the police force. “Everything that has been recommended(in Ram Pradhan Committee report) has not been done, like purchase of close circuit cameras have not been purchased, the procurement is a problem…police modernisation programme has not moved as rapidly as we would have liked to,” he added. Chavan disagreed that there was an intelligence failure in giving a warning of the triple blasts. “We routinely monitor electronic equipments, nothing came up, and there was no lead from Delhi,” he said. Chavan, however, agreed there was a need to increase intelligence gathering capabilities. He also said the state Cabinet at its meeting held yesterday informally discussed the difficulties caused by visits of VIPs along with large entourage at hospitals during emergency situations, which put a strain on hospital administrations. Amidst questions being raised on security issues in the wake of the Mumbai blasts, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also said  Congress agreeing to give the key Home portfolio to NCP was a mistake. “I think it was a mistake. We should have re-looked at it. I don’’t know of any other coalition government where the portfolios of Home, Finance and Planning are not with the Chief Minister,” Chavan said. “This was a division agreed to by us in 1999 when Congress-NCP first came to power in the state. That pattern was based on the model adopted by the Shiv Sena-BJP government during 1995-99,” Chavan told a TV channel. The Chief Minister’ s remarks have come at a time when Home Minister RR Patil of NCP, who had to quit after 26/11 terror attacks, has come under fire over the Mumbai blasts. “But then this is also a unique government where two almost equal partners are running the government, unlike in Delhi or West Bengal where there is a dominant partner having small parties’ support,” Chavan said when asked if there was an internal contradiction that a key portfolio like Home is being held by a junior coalition partner. “This is a unique coalition. But I don’t think that is a major problem. We both (Congress and NCP) come from the Congress culture. We split in 1999 for some reason,” he said. Asked if this had hampered his functioning, Chavan said, “There are difficulties at times. Decision-making takes time. We take everybody on board. But I think it is a part of coalition politics.” PTI