Terror fears have receded from the Mumbaikar minds a decade after 26/11. Time heals, but it took a few years for the people to take life easy as the huge tragedy in 2008 saw 166 people losing their lives and 293 suffering injuries.

Scars of the ghastly attack probably will never fade out for those who lost their loved ones or came out of the ordeal alive. Among the dead were 28 foreigners.

Things have changed on the ground after 26/11. The security has been strengthened all around the city, there are more closed- circuit television (CCTV) cameras across the city now. Security personnel now stand guard round-the-clock at the highly vulnerable places. As a response to these attacks, a specialised counter-terrorism unit, Force One, was formed and commissioned on November 24, 2009, two days before the first anniversary of the attacks.

Business is as usual now at the iconic railway station Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), built during the British period, which saw maximum deaths (58) and injuries (104) of innocent people on November 26 evening as two terrorists sprayed bullets on them.

Now this railway station, which has several lakhs of local and long distance travellers alighting and boarding trains here, is armed with scanners and more check posts guarding the bustling railway station.

The vehicles entering CSMT are automatically scanned by underground metal detectors at the entrance gate. Another very sensitive area and a target of terrorists in 1993 attack, the Bombay Stock Exchange area, now has tighter security; vehicle entry is restricted from all sides by installing movable barriers manned by security personnel. There are special combat vehicles with security personnel stationed at highly vulnerable places like BSE, CSMT and Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue.

Hotels that became targets –The Taj Mahal Palace & Towers, Trident and Oberoi — all took time to reopen after 26/11, as the damages done to these hotels was huge during the terrorist attack and counter attacks by the security personnel.

The city still remains vulnerable with its vast coast line stretching from end to end.

What has helped overcome the fear of terror attacks is probably the near absence of such attacks post-the 2008 incident and the presence of security personnel at all railway stations in the city.

Also, terror attacks from across the border is largely being neutralised in Jammu & Kashmir by the security forces and the army.

Improvement in safeguarding the city against such terror attacks is still minuscule given the size of the city.

“Still crowded railway stations, market places remain the soft targets of the terrorists, probably part of the city’s total security forces is better equipped now, but improvement is probably only 10 to 15 per cent,” opined a person working with a financial services firm in Mumbai.

Schools, colleges, offices are also soft targets as unarmed security personnel guard the entrance with thousands of people at these locations. A person who faced the situation first hand, who was stuck at Leopold Cafe, in Colaba area on 26/11, when asked whether he felt safer 10 years later, said, “I don’t feel more secure, security seems beefed up but there are many porous areas, foolproof plan is still not in place, more surveillance is needed and more spending is required on police personnel’s working conditions, arms and equipment.”

Each man responded differently to the terror attack that began in the night of 26/11 that could be neutralised only on November 29. Some people were critical of the way the government handled the situation at that time, and say probably the city needs more Tukaram Omble, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Mumbai Police and a retired army soldier. His team was under-equipped for the attack, but managed to kill one terrorist and take one alive. Unarmed, Omble held on to the rifle of the injured Ajmal Kasab, enabling other officers to apprehend him. In the process, Kasab fired several shots, killing Omble.