17 November,2009 12:00 PM IST | | Chandran Iyer
The National Disaster Response Force is equipped with antidotes to counter most chemical agents and is armed with decontamination kits to handle any radiation damage caused by dirty bombs
The big threat to Indian cities is not just from AK-47 totting terrorists like Mohammed Ajmal Qasab, but from 'dirty bombs' that are laced with radioactive materials to inflict maximum damage.u00a0
What is a matter of grave concern is that these bombs are easy to assemble, by procuring radioactive materials with equal ease. To make matters worse, the radioactive material in these bombs cannot be detected by the naked eye. Only experts armed with a special device known as a Geiger-Muller counter can find traces of radioactive materials in the bombs.
Hence, taking a serious note of such a possibility, the battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducted an unusual drill in their sprawling campus on the eve of 26/11 terror attack anniversary trying to detect a 'dirty bomb'.
"The next threat from terrorists could be from dirty bombs. Once the bomb explodes the residue from the bombs can keep emitting radioactive rays, which are extremely hazardous. A person who comes in contact with the radiation could suffer serious consequences like cancer," said Alok Avasthy, Commandant of the NDRF.
"We are conducting special training for our units to deal with such dirty bombs. They have received specialised training from scientists from Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) from Trombay, DRD Gwalior, International experts from Singapore, USA and Switzerland," added Avasthy.
Chemical warfare
"Our team is equipped to tackle any chemical warfare agents used by terrorists, including nerve agents, blister agents, choking agents or blood agents. An example of use of chemical agents by terrorists can be seen in 1965 Sarin gas incident in a Tokyo subway that killed 12 and injured nearly 6,000," said Avasthy.
The NDRF disaster response team is equipped with antidotes to counter most chemical agents and decontamination kits for dirty bombs.
Assistant Commandant of the NDRF, S K Gangopadhyay, said, "We've to be ready to tackle any possible dirty bomb attack. Using Cobalt 60 rods that are easily available in cancer hospitals, a terrorist can easily assemble dirty bombs."
