CHENNAI: In the event of a terror attack or aircraft hijack in South India, the National Security Guard (NSG) commandos from Chennai would fly out of the city airport within 40 minutes to take on the militants. Inaugurating the permanent structure for the NSG Regional Hub at Nerkundram about 35 kilometres away from Chennai, off the GST Road on Saturday, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the commandos would be ready with ammunition including rocket launchers to reach the city airport in the next 40 minutes. “The travel time would reduce by 10 minutes if they were taking off from the adjacent Indian Air Force station,” he added.Pointing out that the first one hour of terrorist attack is crucial, he said, the NSG commandos from Delhi could reach Taj Hotel and other localities at Mumbai only after 12 hours, when terrorists struck the financial capital during November 2008. “After terrorist attacks in Mumbai, we decided to set up four regional hubs of NSG in cities such as Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad. All the hubs were established exactly in six months, in June 2009,” he pointed.The Union Home Minister said, “With the acquisition of land in Nerkundram, a permanent structure was constructed at a cost of `54 crore in an area spread across 69.28 acres. I thank the State Government for their support.” The commandos of this hub are kept prepared for 24 hours on all 365 days, he emphasized while noting that the commandos would reach any airport within 20 to 30 minutes in the event of a flight hijack. He also announced that the NSG regional centre is being set up at Hyderabad.
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