Conference I attended - Building secure cities in troubled times

A half day conference was held on 25th May 2010 at The Hotel Gateway Ummed in Ahmedabad on the topic” Building Secure Cities in Troubled Times’ at The Hotel Gateway Ummed, Ahmedabad at 2.00 pm on May 25th, 2010. This conference was a part of the ‘Secure your City - Ahmedabad Initiative’ organized by SWI ( Security Watch India) in association with Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry, IPPAI, CSARN, BCIC, MCCI. The conference was sponsored by Indianeye, while the security partner was G4S and the Media Partner, Business World.

I participated in this Conference which has the mission of 'Secure Your City - Ahmedabad Initiative' and support and facilitate the efforts of the Government, security Agencies and Industry to secure Business and citizens of Ahmedabad. The Inaugural speech was by Shri Balwant Singh, Addnl. Chief Secretary, Home Department, Government of India. All sessions were chaired by Mr. Maroof Raza, Defence Analyst and Senior Advisor, SWI. The conference was meant for Hotels, Hospitals, Schools, Colleges, Malls, Banks, Airports, Nuclear Sites, Power Plants, Oil & Gas Pipelines, Seaports, Refineries & Mines

It is said that, 'Disasters don't happen to places, it happens to people.' It is a fact that the city of Ahmedabad is one of the most rapidly growing Metropolitan Cities set to become a global hub across many sectors. Ahmedabad needs to match the pace when it comes to threat preparedness, disaster and emergency management, and the incorporation of secure systems and procedures across business and various other establishments for continuity and resilience.

The joint initiative focused on Action several points as Government and citizen participation, coastal security operations, need for maritime development and co-ordination and other issues that relate to implementations of technology and latest equipment and coordination for police forces and preparing for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

As per the Information derived from the Conference, talking on world terror fatalities, till Dec 5, 2009, India had experienced 2062 fatalities, out of which 920 were due to naxalite operations, 782 were incidents in the North East and 360 were in the troubled region of J&K, clearly indicating that security is largely affected in the country through such disgruntled factions and insurgent groups. Additionally forest lands have become guerilla zones and 231 districts in the country have naxal influence, with the strongest presence in south Chattisgarh.

Not going deeper into why India is so susceptible to disasters, much about the Security Issues, which are the soft targets when terrorist strike and knowing the anatomy of terrorist and why such attacks are not handled well, the Conference gave an insight to major roles that can be played by Government and citizens to combat terror.

A mobile phone based alarm system named E-Watch, enabled through GPS was also demonstrated at the Conference.

You can read the overview and report with names of Speakers who participated on SWI website.
http://www.securitywatchindia.org.in/SecureAhmedabad.aspx

- ilaxi