Home Minister Jayant Patil has become the latest to press for the return of the mounted police, once the backbone of policing in the city. The idea, 35 horses to handle demonstrations on grounds like Azad Maidan, was among Patil’s suggestions last week for upgrading the police. On a visit to Johannesburg, he had seen mounted police manning a stadium crowd.

Bombay’s mounted police were disbanded in the 1930s but such squads thrive across the world. In Tokyo they control traffic; in American cities such as New York they monitor crowds in parks; in London Metropolitan they control mobs. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, one of the world’s oldest, even has federal and judicial powers.

A Scotland Yard anecdote goes that in the 1940s, when the Ministry of Home Security invited Sir Harold Scott to head the metropolitan commissionerate, the request included a simple question: “Can you ride a horse?” Scott went on to become an accomplished commissioner.

Ahmedabad Police carry out night patrols with mounted cops, with much of the apparatus modelled on that of the Bombay Police. One advantage is the “show of force”, says Commissioner S K Saikia.

Kolkata Police have 67 horses are on the streets. “It would be a pleasure to invite Mumbai Police and discuss how we use this great institution,” says Javed Shamim, DC (HQ). “We use mounted police to handle demonstrations. We only need four mounted inspectors where a normal unit would need 50 constables.”

The Bombay Police’s horses were imported Australian Walers, even tempered, sturdy and efficient in crowd situations. Police officers have often suggested that a revival. In the 1970s, DIG (Aurangabad range) S Ramamurthi had made a concrete proposal, later turned down for cost.

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