As many as 41 Mobile Radiation Detection Systems (MRDS) will set up in the state capital soon to detect radioactive material using in acts of terrorism and disruption. Talking to media persons here today, National Disaster Managment Authority (NDMA) Vice-Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy said such systems would come up at all major cities across the country as part of the preparedness to handle radiological emergencies like the one that hit the Mayapuri area in Delhi in 2010 when one person died and eight people were hospitalised for radiation exposure.
“We do not want a repeat of that incident,” Mr Reddy said and added “so far, we have not had any detection system anywhere in the country.” The Union Home Ministry had recently sanctioned setting up of nearly 1,000 MRDS in the major cities including Chennai and the installation of these systems will help detect other sources of radiation, apart from nuclear plants, like from medical waste. Local policemen will be trained to use the devices, he said. The systems will be installed at the selected police stations which are to be equipped with the sophisticated device meant for detecting radiation, he added. UNI