The Hindu Business Line : On their feet, for 48 hours

But if you are a Vinay Asnodkar (name changed), a 36-year old Mumbai policeman, you would spend 15 to 16 hours at work, six or even seven days a week during normal work days. And in a crisis you could be on your feet for over 48 hours, still not knowing when your duty could end.

This is what happened with Mr Asnodkar who would now prefer going back to his 16-hour routine. “I had finished my day’s work and was about to have dinner with my family when I was informed of the hostage crisis at The Trident Oberoi. By 11 p.m. on Wednesday, I was here,” Mr Asnodkar who at 6 p.m., on Friday was still right in front of the Trident, where he had arrived nearly two days ago.

“When it becomes too unbearable we just sneak out for a couple of hours, make some phone calls to family and friends and then come back. Since most of the policemen are in a similar situation, we cover up for each other,” said Mr Asnodkar.

At the time of going to press, the stand off between terrorists and the security forces continued in Nariman House and the Taj Mahal hotel while the Trident Oberoi Hotel by then was declared sanitised. About 700 security men have been patrolling around these two landmark hotels in South Mumbai. Due to the gravity of the situation, policemen and members of the rapid action force stationed in parts of the State have also been summoned.

Earlier in the day, this scribe was intercepted by a policeman while near the Taj Mahal Hotel. After a minute or two of small talk, the cop complained that that he had not gone home for the last two nights.

Pointing towards two biscuits in his right hand, he said: “This is what I have been living on for the past two days.” As a fall out of their vigilant effort, in the long run cops could fall victims to hyper arousal, hyper vigilance, acute reaction stress and depression, said Dr Hari Shetty city-based psychiatrist.

“Even without considering the impact of the current crisis, Mumbai policeman are highly stressed. In the current situation, they could feel highly demotivated and irritable,” said Dr Shetty.

Last year, it was revealed through the Right To Information Act, that one policeman of the 40,000 strong force in Mumbai was dying in harness every 48 hours. The common causes of death are stress, chronic ailments like cardiac problems and diabetes, accidents while at work and suicides.

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