It is a year since the Mumbai serial blasts. At rush hour on July 11 last year, bombs tore through seven suburban trains. Almost 200 people were dead and many times that number injured. The horrific scenes of bloodied bodies and terrified commuters, of twisted metal and burnt out train compartments remain clearly etched in our memories. To many Mumbaikars, the serial blasts are more than just sad memories for they suffered loss of close kin or friends. The past year has been a difficult one for them and for the hundreds who were injured as they have had to struggle to rebuild their lives, shattered by the tragedy.  Sadly, many of them have been left alone in their struggle. It has been reported that several of the victims of the blasts are yet to receive financial compensation and medical help from the government. Soon after the serial attacks, the government promised jobs to those disabled in the blasts. A year on these promises remain unfulfilled.  An unsympathetic administration is standing in the way of the rehabilitation of the blast victims.
The police are yet to nab those who masterminded the attacks. Thirteen people are in custody but these are said to have played a support role at best. Charges against them are yet to be framed. Those who planned the attacks and planted the bombs are still walking free.  In the weeks following the blasts, intelligence agencies and police repeatedly claimed having found clinching evidence and “breakthroughs” in their investigations. Where are the results? Are the police doing their best to nab the culprits or are politicians tying their hands?
It is the same story with regard to improving security in Mumbai’s railway stations and on its suburban trains. Grand promises were made by politicians and officials and few have been fulfilled. Only a fraction of the 530 CCTV cameras that were to keep an eye across the entire suburban network have been installed so far. Proposals put forward by Western Railways for purchase of baggage scanning equipment, explosive vapour detectors, hand-held metal detectors and so on are said to be gathering dust in various ministries. Mumbai has suffered two major serial terrorist attacks and several others on a smaller scale. Yet, little has been done to protect its people.