Eight months after the 26/11 terror attack exposed the disarray in the Mumbai Police despite a clearly laid out Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Maharashtra has revised the guidelines. The revision not only accounts for attacks such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba assault but charts the course of action even in the event of a nuclear, chemical or biological attack.

The new SOP, expected to be circulated in a few days, will also include earthquakes and floods, drawing in emergency responders other than the state police force within its ambit.

“Separate SOPs have been made for commissionerates, Mumbai Police, district police, nuclear, chemical and biological warfare and the environment,” Chandra Iyengar, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, told The Indian Express. “These have been drafted on the basis of recommendations and guidelines sent by the Government of India. Recent experiences have been incorporated into the SOPs and they are extremely elaborate...local conditions have been kept in mind.”

Like earlier, the state police chief and the city police commissioner would head their respective chains of command with the local DCP in charge on the ground.

The new guidelines make it clear that policemen can’t leave for the site of an emergency armed just with a lathi. The SOP contains specific directives on the kind of weapons policemen need to carry and makes bullet-proof vests mandatory in certain situations. The new SOPs, sources said, also specify the role of emergency agencies. For instance, in the past, officers were directed to get in touch with a “competent authority” in the event of a crisis. Such generalities have been done away with and the “competent authority” has been specified, be it the fire department or the health department. It also has a list of suppliers of equipment needed to tackle chemical, biological or radioactive emergencies.

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