 "G20")
To avert any hostage crisis during the G20 summit in Delhi, the government will deploy "House Intervention Teams" or HIT squads in all of Delhi's hotels where G20 guests are scheduled to stay, The Times of India (ToI) has reported.
These personnel will operate on specific instructions from the senior-most officials to mitigate damage in extreme situations and will have kill orders.
This squad will comprise commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) and Delhi Police with particular expertise to fight in built-up areas and urban settings. An official in the know told the newspaper, "The commandos are trained in house intervention. They storm confined spaces to neutralise terrorists and rescue hostages."
The squads will be different from the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams deployed outside the hotels to counter any threat on the streets, the official cited above told ToI.
The HIT squad will play a key role in the G20 security apparatus and will be strategically placed inside hotel buildings to counter hostage situations or lone-wolf attacks, a senior intelligence officer said. Apart from this, members of this team will be stationed in one of the rooms at the centre of the hotel, and only the venue commander will have the information of their position, the officer added.
The weapons of the HIT squad
The HIT squad members will be armed with weapons such as Israeli Tavor TAR-21 assault rifles and American Glock 17 pistols, and some of the members will have Glocks equipped with "corner shots," which are helpful when taking aim from different angles in a short-range fight, the report said.
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When were HIT teams formed?
The HIT teams were formed after the 26/11 terror attacks to deal with warfare-like situations in confined areas. Since confined spaces allow perpetrators to conceal themselves and deny access to security forces, operating in such situations requires a unique skill set. Such situations are often dark or poorly lit, and thus, rescuers must have their own light source and training to operate in such conditions.
Sniffer dogs on the guard
Sniffer dogs will be deployed right from the Delhi Airport, where foreign dignitaries will arrive, to the hotels where they will stay. 69 explosive detection dogs, part of the K9 squad, will be on duty to sniff out any suspicious object.
The dogs include breeds such as Belgian Malinois, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and Alsatians. The dogs have undergone intensive six-month-long training at the ITBP camp. While majority of these are explosive detection dogs, there are also tracker dogs for detecting narcotics.
How is Delhi preparing to host the G20 summit?
Delhi will be hosting the Summit from September 8 to 10. With about ten days to the Summit, beautification and infrastructure projects are being fast-tracked. The Lieutenant Governor's (L-G) Secretariat has set a timeline for these projects and has directed the concerned departments to complete them by July 31.
To this end, L-G has set up monitoring committees to keep a close eye on the work at the ground level. Each such committee will comprise the district magistrate, DCP, deputy commissioner of MCD or NDMC, as the case may be, and DDA chief engineer.
Beautification work being done in Delhi
Beautification and cleaning work is also in full swing in the city. This includes sanitation, under which overall cleaning of roads and markets is being done. The administration is working to ensure that there are no open garbage dumps on the roadside. Drains are also being cleaned.
As a part of the beautification drive, pots, flower beds, trees, and shrubs are being pruned. Illegal encroachments are being removed from flyovers and underpasses.
Hanging wires from roads and markets are being removed. Defaced flyovers, metro pillars, subways, public toilets, and walls are also being cleaned and painted. Roads are being repaired, and streetlights are being fixed as Delhi prepares to host the G20 Summit.
Prominent historical sites in the city, including The Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Rajghat, Lotus Temple, and other such structures and their surroundings, are also being cleaned.
What is G20?
The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. It plays an essential role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues.
The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, United Kingdom, and United States) and the European Union.
India holds the Presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023.
