Thousands of people across Indian cities would have skipped birthdays and dinners and long-delayed shopping trips on Sunday because of fears of terror attacks.
Terrorism is no more a faraway blip on the radar in conflict areas. It is thumping at the doorsteps of cities that never had any experience of such bombings -- from Lucknow to Varanasi to Jaipur to Bangalore to Ahmedabad. India has entered the era of Easy Terrorism; bombs can be made for as little as Rs 25 in a few minutes.
We suggest ten steps that India should take to take the battle against terror from rhetoric to impact:
Create a network of surveillance cameras: Britain successfully fought terrorism with them. And they do not cost a bomb. A good quality four-camera system that will pan and take images from all directions for up to 60 feet costs just Rs 11,500.
Five thousands such cameras in New Delhi would cost Rs 57.5 crores. That is worth a single big Bollywood movie – that is the amount Saawariya and Jodha Akbar reportedly earned at the box office.
They will be a deterrent not just against terrorists, but traffic violators, eve-teasers, chain-snatchers and killer drivers. And for places like railway stations and bus terminals, the same cameras will see in darkness as well – for Rs 3,500 more.
"There is no demand of cameras for public safety. People think they are only for spying," Ahmedabad-based surveillance equipment seller Mehul Shah said by telephone hours after the serial blasts in the city
