Special vehicles have been designed for the team to move around venues
Special vehicles have been designed for the team to move around venues
In the run up to the Commonwealth Games, Delhi is witnessing an unprecedented growth in infrastructure. Simultaneously, the security agencies have upped the ante, so much so that devices and strategies that are yet unheard of in the Indian subcontinent are being developed to ensure that India's big-ticket event remains safe from all quarters.
Ground zero: The newly-inaugurated velodrome at the Indira Gandhi
Indoor stadium in New Delhi. It is one among many important games
venuesu00a0pic/Imtiyaz Khan
Adding to the comprehensive security arrangements for the games, scheduled to be held in October in the national capital, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is going to train a special unit from the Indian Army to detect and defuse dirty bombs that may be planted by subversive elements.
Dirty bombs refer to a weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives.
Soldiers from various army units would be handpicked for the special squad who will undergo training under the auspices of Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Sciencesu00a0 (INMAS), a DRDO organisation. Highly placed sources in the DRDO, confirming the development refused to say anything about the size of the special unit to be raised ahead of the Commonwealth Games in the first week of October.
The squad will be deployed in specially designed vehicles near the games venues to detect and defuse the weapons. "Detecting dirty bombs is a difficult task and needs a great amount of training. At the same time the men entrusted with the task of tackling these bombs needs to decide quickly about their next move," said a top DRDO official, requesting anonymity.
While detection of such explosives is considered the most important aspect, handling of such bombs is also equally important. "There could be a radiation leak even if the experts manage to defuse the bombs. Considered the volume of people expected to participate in the games a radiation scare could be catastrophic," the official said.
It is also significant that after several people were taken ill due to radiation from a Gamma Irradiator at Mayapuri, the Indian Army was directed to prepare itself to deal with such exigencies.
Around 1,000 odd troops are expected to undergo the training while there would be around 100 army officers from the specialised units of engineers. "Majority of the troops would be from combat units who would work under the guidance of officers and men selected from units of engineers," added the official.
These men would be equipped with specially designed nuclear, biological and chemical weapons proof suits and would carry the equipments either to defuse the bombs on the spot or shift them to a safer location for further action. Small units of these men called Quick Reaction Mobile Team (QMRT) would be deployed around al the venues while a backup team would be on standby for quick action.
While the task of the army engineers would be to detect the radioactive material combat troops would be used to cordon off the area and provide security to the athletes and people. A separate medical team would be on standby to assist people in case of any radiation exposure.
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| Dirty bomb? |
| The term dirty bomb refers to a speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the explosion with radioactive material, hence the attribute "dirty". |
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