Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Dec 11: It was quite a scene at Netravati bridge here on Wednesday December 11, as fire fighters, police personnel, bomb disposal squad and canine squad all gathered to find a 'bomb' on the bridge!
The news of the 'bomb' sent shivers through hundreds of commuters who traverse the bridge, while some others went about their day unfazed.
What was it all about? Well, there was no bomb, at least not a real one. It was simply a Sagar Kavach mock drill undertaken by the Mangaluru police commissionerate to test the preparedness of the emergency teams and the Ullal police to deal with such situations.
The police control room sent out a message to the Ullal police through the wireless that a bomb had been placed in Netravati bridge and they should rush to the spot without delay to find and defuse the explosive. The Ullal police wasted no time in informing the bomb disposal squad, fire fighters and canine squad.
The teams searched every nook and corner of the Netravati railway bridge but could not detect any bomb. They then moved on to the main bridge and continued the search.
Finally, somewhere in the middle of the bridge, they found a bundle with the words 'explosive' written on it. The firemen, the bomb disposal squad and the canine squad rushed to examine the bundle. The officials of the bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) gave a demo on defusing the 'bomb', after which the Ullal police took the bundle into their custody.
The mock drill lasted for about three hours. The commuters who initially panicked at the possibility of a 'bomb' on Netravati bridge, heaved a huge sigh of relief once they realized it that was only a demo.