Chidambaram to inaugurate first regional NSG hub in Mumbai tomorrow

The first National Security Guard (NSG) hub, set up in the aftermath of last year's November 26 terror attacks, will become operational in Mumbai tomorrow, with three more hubs of the elite special response unit scheduled to be inaugurated on July 1.

Union home minister P Chidambaram will inaugurate the Mumbai hub, which is located at Marol in Andheri (East), close to the airport. Once this hub becomes operational, the commando force's response time in countering any terrorist action in the western region would be reduced "very significantly".

Chidambaram is expected to inaugurate similar hubs in Chennai and Hyderabad on the same day, while the fourth hub, in Kolkata, may be inaugurated by another minister.

"With the establishment of these hubs, the response time of [the] NSG for countering any terrorist action will be reduced very significantly," a home ministry spokesman said
today. The government had decided to set up these hubs after drawing a lesson from the delayed arrival of thr NSG team in Mumbai when terrorists struck the city at multiple locations on November 26, 2008.

The Chennai hub is built on a 85-acre plot in Nedunkundram, while in Hyderabad, it is located on a 22-acre plot at Trimulghery. In Kolkata, the facility is situated on a 20-acre plot at Badu.