Mumbai is on aerial-attack alert
The scale of the attack aside, when Hamas terrorists flew into Israel on 7 October using paragliders, it took everybody by surprise. After 9/11, air attacks weren’t unexpected, but little had anybody imagined terrorists could use such small flying machines to execute an attack that big, even as Israeli defences were perhaps focused more on land routes.
Now that the world has seen that ingenuity, it will have to adapt. Air threats seem top-of-the-mind for Mumbai’s police, which has clamped the city with Section 144 till 18 January, a provision that bars people from gathering in groups, among other things.
The curbs announced include a ban on the flying of drones, remote-controlled micro-light aircraft, paragliders, para-motors and hot-air balloons. The city’s protectors are reportedly wary of terror attacks.
The 30-day long restriction period seems odd, suggesting that the intelligence inputs being acted upon are not very specific. In the absence of publicly known details, it’s unclear if the precautions being taken are too broad.
Be that as it may, national security cannot afford to get lax. As with Parliament, so with the rest of the country: There’s just no getting away from staying alert.
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