It’s no good reiterating what’s been happening in Mumbai. But my mind does visit the past.

Within hours of the London bombings, a renewed call went up for the United States to use its considerable technology heft to prevent similar attacks on the nation’s transit system. Public transit’s chief lobbyist said its members need $6 billion to upgrade security, and US Congress expectedly increased the funding.

Has our security intelligence ever thought about ideas such as smoke-detector-like devices sounding an alarm when a bomb-porting terrorist enters a train station? Or these are years and billions of dollars from fruition — if ever. The best current defenses for the country’s subways, buses, airports and trains, remain decidedly low tech — human vigilance and bomb-sniffing dogs!!

Sensing opportunity, some technology companies might now aggressively start advertising their potential to create gadgets to detect bombs and chemical and biological weapons but who will pay heed to those. The Government and also the 1 billion plus people’s nation does not want to be bothered in spending on public security or tightening the inspection at leading commercial establishments.

The very nature of mass transportation makes it impossible to install metal detectors and take the other security measures that aim to protect the flying public. “You cannot just take the applications that are used in airport and plunk them into the transit system,” would be some top official’s explanation in time to come. But some could be modified, right?

The industry has spent $2 billion since Sept. 11, 2001, training its security personnel to be on the lookout for abandoned packages and suspicious passengers.

What did we do? Practically nothing, besides adding some metal detectors at market entrances (Like in South Extension in New Delhi) or some bored and tired policeman with a dated ‘wooden stick’ as his sole weapon at commercial doorsteps.

Another promising technology under development (reportedly at Foreign labs) is software that would direct cameras to immediately flag suspicious scenes at stations such as abandoned packages or passengers dressed for winter during summer. Among the slew of companies offering improvements to transportation security is California-based HiEnergy Technologies, which makes detectors that can determine in 15 seconds to three minutes whether an object contains explosives and, if so, which ones. The suitcase-sized detectors, which cost $300,000 apiece, bathe an object in neutrons and measure the gamma rays emitted in response.

These are not un-attainable technologies, just that they require a fast acting government body and vigillant security personnels to drill it into the minds of the public.