The High Court here on Monday asked the Delhi Police to submit to it the details of the steps it would take in case of a bomb threat to city schools with least dependency on parents and without causing any panic.
It also asked the police to tell what measures it took to ensure the safe evacuation of children following a bomb threat to around 200 schools in the Delhi-NCR area recently.
The court direction came while it was hearing a petition filed by Arpit Bhargava, a lawyer. The petitioner submitted that there were only 18 bomb detection and disposal squads with the police and wanted to know how they possibly could reach 200 schools.
The Delhi government standing counsel, who was also representing the Delhi Police, submitted that the deployment of constabulary in each and every school with modern equipment was not possible.
The counsel said the police had issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) and all private schools have been informed about it. The SOPs include disaster management practices and also explains bomb threat situations.
After going through the SOPs, the court said they were general in nature and did not pertain to bomb threats to schools.
“What is it that you have done to ensure that children studying in schools are evacuated? Do you have any special kind of SOP to handle such a kind of problem or not?” the court asked.
On being asked about how many times mock drills have been conducted in schools, the government counsel said the exercise is conducted every three months.
After hearing the arguments, the HC told the city police and the Delhi government to also give data on the number of schools in each zone, and the nodal authority in each zone, which will be responsible for taking action in case a threat.
The court additionally asked the Delhi Police to indicate the action they have taken to investigate the hoax bomb threat calls received by schools in the recent past.
