http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Why_did_NSG_take_9_hrs_to_get_there/articleshow/3775003.cms
Why did NSG take 9 hrs to get there?
30 Nov 2008, 0508 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: The terrorists strike Mumbai at 9.30pm. Chief Minister
Vilasrao Deshmukh is in Kerala. He is briefed about the attack on the
city's prime locations. By the time Deshmukh grasps the enormity of
the situation, 90 minutes have gone by. He rings Union home minister
Shivraj Patil at 11pm and asks for NSG commandos. "How many men?"
Patil asks. "200," says the CM. Patil calls NSG chief J K Dutt and
tells him to send 200 battle-ready commandos to Mumbai.
Most of the NSG men have to be roused from sleep. They don their
uniforms, strap on safety gear, collect ammo and firearms. It is
discovered that the only plane that can take 200 men, the IL 76, is
not in Delhi but Chandigarh. Precious minutes are ticking by.
The IL 76 pilot is woken, the plane refuelled. It reaches Delhi at
2am. By the time the commandos get in and the plane takes off,
four-and-a-half hours have elapsed. Experts say that unless a response
is mounted within 30 minutes of an attack, the enemy can assume key
defensive positions.
It takes the aircraft almost three hours to land at Mumbai airport.
Unlike the Boeing and Airbus, IL 76 is a slow plane. By the time the
NSG commandos board the waiting buses it is 5.25am.
The buses take another 40 minutes to reach the designated place in
south Mumbai where the commandos are briefed, divided into different
groups and sent out on their mission.
By the time they start their operation, it is 7am — in other words,
nine-and-a-half hours after the terror strike.
Many lives might have been saved had this delay not happened. The
obvious question is why is the NSG stationed only in Delhi. When
Indian cities are vulnerable to terror attacks, why is there no
commando force like the NSG, or its units, in every city?
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