India's Explosives Act is 127 years old!

The 1993 serial bombings, the 7/11 train blasts, the 26/11 terror attacks and now 13/7. Mumbai has been rocked by serial blasts again and similar attacks were launched in Jaipur on May 13, 2008 and in Delhi on September 13, 2008. It's always advantage terrorists when it comes to Indian cities and with the Explosives Act dating back to 1884 does it come as any surprise?

The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation has its headquarters at Nagpur where the chief controller of explosives is stationed. The overall objective of this body is to ensure safety and security of public and property from fire and explosives, but with a law, which is 127 years old, terrorists seem to have the last laugh.        

Every government, which has been in power during an attack, claims to be serious about the war on terror. Post 26/11, hubs have been set up to combat similar attacks, but intelligence agencies say that the bigger challenge is to tackle serial blasts. Such strikes are easier to execute as compared to the fidayeen-style attack, which requires years of planning.

Preparing a bomb using ammonium nitrate is an easy task since it is easily available and the mixture used -- fuel oil -- is easy to procure. Ammonium nitrate has been banned in many countries, but not in India since it is the cheapest blast agents used for mining.

But the major loopholes are in laws. Unlike the United States, India does not have city-specific laws. Repeated intelligence has suggested that our cities are extremely vulnerable to terror strikes and hence city-specific laws relating to explosives would be ideal.

In the US, a mayor is entitled to chalk out his own laws with regards to explosives. Records of each individual transporting explosive materials are maintained and this includes fingerprints. There are laws pertaining to pyro techniques, which include keeping a tab on even a simple firecracker explosive.     

In comparison India's Explosives Act, 1884 is obsolete. Amendments to this act were made by the government, but those too date back to 1983. Terrorism was not an issue plaguing India 28 years ago. These laws and rules basically look to regulate the manufacture, possession, use, sale and export of explosives.

The law, which largely looks into factors pertaining to prevention of crimes by unlawful and malicious use of explosives, was formulated in the arly twentieth century -- the Explosives Substances Act, 1908.

Experts point out that though these laws deal with the procurement of the explosives, there is a huge lacuna when it comes to dealing with new-age explosives. Moreover, tracking the procurement of explosives still largely lies with the police and the Intelligence Bureau, but what India needs a team of experts trained to study bombs.

The job of the controller of explosives based in Nagpur and five circle offices at Kolkata, Agra, Faridabad, Mumbai and Chennai is to deal with firecrackers and they are far from equipped to counter terror.

Experts say that setting up a National Explosives Control Bureau on the lines of the Narcotics Control Bureau is the need of the hour. Representations in this regard have been made from the days of the National Democratic Alliance government (1999-2004), but there has been no progress.     

In fact, eminent forensic scientist P Chandra Sekharan, who submitted proposals to the Centre for setting up the NECB and permitting the states to enact stringent laws, said it's high time the government acts on his recommendations taking into account the present-day situation.

The National Explosives Control Bureau is India's best shot at countering terror.   

Apart from a team of experts, the bureau should comprise an intelligence wing. Moreover, statistics on all explosive materials should be recorded. Create a network, which enables the NECB to keep a track on individuals purchasing or selling explosive material, and on movement of explosives in and out of the country.

Experts point out that most terror strikes are investigated by the police. But as they try to zero in on the origin of the material used in the blast they waste a lot of time. This proves fatal to the investigations and before one case is cracked, terror strikes again.