Blank Screen

Ever since our cities have been rocked by serial bomb blasts in the past two years, the issue of making them safer from such terrorist outrages has been in the forefront of public discussion. Besides technological upgradation, a number of systemic reforms have to be implemented. Among these are the institution of a federal agency which would coordinate inputs from the various central and state level agencies; beefing up the number of police personnel; inducting more cyber security experts; increasing the budget for informer and surveillance networks; and expanding and modernising forensic laboratories. More than 36 hours after the blasts, the people of Beadonpura’s Gali number 42 — which lost 11 of its residents — had their first meal on Monday afternoon, courtesy a former Congress politician. Since Saturday, they have been living on biscuits and water, that too arranged by the local RWA. They hadbarely slept during the period. Now residents who ferried the dead and the injured on their own, without any help from the government, are at the end of their tether.