New Delhi, August 04: Defence Minister AK Antony Tuesday warned that terrorists were becoming more aggressive by adopting new technologies in their operations but said the Defence Ministry will prepare itself to meet these threats.
“Terrorists are getting more and more aggressive in their activities the world over and they are adopting newer techniques and technologies in their operations,” Antony said after releasing the Guidelines for Management of Chemical (Terrorism) Disasters prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) here.
“The Defence Ministry will also prepare itself (along with NDMA) to meet these threats from terrorists,” he said.
Stating that the 132-page guidelines were “comprehensive”, the minister said they would go a long way in effective prevention and management of chemical disasters in the country.
He said the guidelines were intended for disaster management including prevention, surveillance and intelligence gathering, apart from capacity building and infrastructure development for an effective response, relief and rehabilitation of areas hit by chemical disaster.
Expressing the hope that the new guidelines would help effective prevention and management of chemical disasters, Antony said the challenge lies in practical application of these on a war-footing.
NDMA vice-chairman General (retired) NC Vij said the guidelines also looked at manpower issues to handle chemical terror attack and disasters.
Vij said his agency was in touch with the HRD Ministry to include disaster management as a subject in all educational institutions from schools to colleges, including technology and medical institutes.
He said the guidelines ensured that India was prepared for any chemical threat, saying they related to disaster mitigation and prevention.
“We should be prepared. The moment we are aware of the nature of threat, the problem comes down many notches. Already, we have issued these guidelines and laid down various responsibilities for organisations so that we are well-prepared,” he said.
To a question, Vij, a former Army chief, said the terror groups operating in India did not have chemical warfare capabilities.
“I do not think capabilities of that kind (chemical warfare) exists. There is a good amount of information available to us on all these groups. Intelligence agencies, too, have doubled their efforts in this regard,” he added.
–Agencies