Security frenzy in Mumbai

US Secret Service and security personnel had a busy day today as they conducted extensive security drills in the metropolis ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit over the weekend. Tomorrow will see more.

Security drills were conducted at and all around the iconic Taj hotel where the potentate would stay, the places he’d be visiting -- the Trident, Mani Bhavan, etc. Not just at the venues but the arrangements for traffic and deployment of police and para-military in the lanes and bylanes around. That includes items such as the stationing and movement of anti-bomb and anti-missile vehicles and emergency evacuation.

Residents of areas in the crucial radius at all the points on the security radar have already been warned when to not be on the roads. There are also the minute watches on buildings around and on movement of people.

There were rehearsals of all planned movements, including that of the helicopter to take Obama from the city airport to the Indian Navy's helibase in South Mumbai’s Colaba. There would not be any flight movement for at least 30 minutes before and after the arrival of Obama at the international airport.

A fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, will patrol the sea lanes off the city coast during his two-day stay. The US security personnel reviewed the deployment of these warships.

Unverified estimates of the security spending runs into hundreds of crores of rupees and news of this has filtered back to the US. So much so, that a middle-level figure in the new Republican party leadership in the US House of Representatives, Michele Bachmann, energised by the party’s sweeping and her own win in this week’s polls, publicly rapped the “over the top” spending on security for Obama’s Indian visit. The White House said the grouse had little relation to reality.