'Delhi's response to blasts was like London'

NEW DELHI: I happened to go shopping with a young non-resident Indian guest from London in New Delhi's business and shopping hub Connaught Place on Sep 13, when multiple bomb blasts shattered the peace of India's capital.

We went to a state emporium to select some handmade bed linen. My friend made his purchases. We moved to another part of the circular shopping area and just when our car was coming into a parking lot, three ear-shattering explosions were heard.

Everything stood still for a few seconds as people tried to figure out what had happened. One would have thought that they would run away from the explosions as a knee-jerk reaction but they rushed towards the source of the explosions, all at once. The shopkeepers hurriedly started to pack up their wares and began the process of downing their shutters. The women selling handicrafts on the pavements hastily packed their goods into bundles to move away.

Forgetting about any more shopping, we asked our driver to head home. Within five minutes, with warning sirens, Police cars were speeding towards the explosions and soon after some ambulances were also seen heading in that direction.

Traffic was stopped in that area as it was cordoned off. Immediately, I made a call home, telling my family that both of us were safe. "It's just like what happened in London on 7/7 bombings in 2005," remarked my friend, "I am surprised that despite the explosions, the people here are calm."

Within six or seven minutes of the explosions, as we stood at the red light, he answered a call on his mobile. It was his wife asking if he was OK after the explosions she had  watched on the TV and read the news flashed on her screen. He assured her that he was safe and was going home. "Incredible," he said, "She came to know almost at once, that's global village for you.

"In 2005, my sister was trapped in the tube (London's underground railway) on  July 7 as she went to work that morning very near where the explosions happened. Since she could not use her mobile for some time, we were all very scared as we watched TV. It was terrible until we got her call. Thank God, our mobiles are working here."

Stuck in the traffic, the radio informed us of the unfolding tragedy. Blasts had also occurred at Karol Bagh and in Greater Kailash 1. We had to pass through the latter on our way home and we decided to avoid it.

News kept on streaming on our mobiles and on the car radio. The radio announcers repeatedly appealed to everyone to stay calm, avoid rumour-mongering, remain indoors and if they had problems in trying to contact their relatives and friends, as the mobile service in these areas had been turned off, the radio station offered to try and help people get in touch.

The number of dead kept rising from 4 to 10 to 15 and so did the injured from 20 to 40 to 50 in the first hour. These figures increased to 20 dead and around 90 injured by midnight.

Back home, everyone was fielding calls from friends and relatives in the city, in India and from abroad as the entire tragedy was alive on the TV screen everywhere. "The response to the terror attack is the about the same as we saw in London," said my friend later.

"The police were on the spot in minutes, the bomb squad started its work almost at once and defused four bombs, the dead and the injured were rushed to hospitals and the TV stations showing non-stop coverage of the disaster," he said, "The setup is not so sophisticated and needs improvement and upgrading but basically the response is the same as in London, and it works."

"You cannot run away from terror attacks," he said. "You don't know where and when they are going to strike. It has become a risk for staying alive today and can happen anywhere in the world - from Bali to Bombay." This is the fourth terror attack in six months in India; will he come back to India? "Of course. We can't let them win."