‘Indians have high threshold for tolerating stench’: Israeli stink bomb fails Kashmir tests
Published time: 27 Jul, 2017 14:55
High-level officials, who were not authorized to speak openly, told the Hindustan Times that the product, which is mixed with liquid and sprayed on crowds out of a water cannon, performed poorly in a test in New Delhi, despite its arrival being announced with much fanfare earlier.
“The CRPF [Central Reserve Police Force] decided to test a few samples of the Israeli product a few months back. Tests were conducted and the stink bomb was found ineffective,” said one of the officers present at the test. “Those who can ignore [the] smell can drink the liquid also.”
“We used it on a captive crowd… consisting of CRPF personnel and general public. But they managed to tolerate the smell without much difficulty. Maybe Indians have a higher threshold of tolerating stench,” another official told the newspaper.
CRPF director general RR Bhatnagar refused to validate or dispute the testimonies, saying merely that the force “does not share” such confidential information.
'Smelly Bombs' Imported From Israel Are Not Stinky Enough To Work In India, Says CRPF
The bombs smell of decomposed bodies and sewage.
Adrija Bose
The bombs, which can be sprayed from water cannons, smell like decomposed bodies and raw sewage.
Yup. Try imagining that.
What's more, the smell is so strong that it takes days to fade even after multiple showers.
All in all, it's supposed to be a pretty effective weapon. As this report in the Hindustan Times says, Israeli security forces have been using these bombs on Palestinian protesters through water cannons since 2008. And it has worked wonders so far.
Naturally, Indian security forces were pretty hopeful it would work in India too.
So the CRPF, which has 60,000 personnel deployed in Kashmir to assist the local police in maintaining law and order and conduct counter-terrorism operations, decided to try out 'Skunk', the stinky bomb.
"We have used chilli grenades, plastic shell tear smoke, stun grenades, colour-smoke grenades, rubber bullets, dye-marker grenades with skin irritant and multi-tier tear-gas launchers, but they did not yield the desired result," a home ministry official told The Telegraph.
But turns out, even with the stink bombs, the ministry didn't factor in one opponent: the Great Indian Nose.
Most ordinary Indians are surrounded by all kinds of foul smell since the day they are born and spend a lifetime negotiating various odours -- at home, on the streets, on public transport, sometimes even at workplaces. No surprise they have a very high tolerance for stench.
So, when the CRPF forces conducted a test with these bombs in Delhi on a 'captive crowd', consisting of their own personnel and the general public, no one moved an inch.
"Maybe Indians have a higher threshold of tolerating stench," an crestfallen official, who was a part of the test, had to admit.
Again, who's surprised? And, more importantly, WHY?
India generates about 60 million tonnes of trash every year. As Sunita Narain, director of the non-governmental Centre for Science and Environment, has memorably put it: "We are drowning in our excreta."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan wants to clean up India, but many of us are yet to make a start even at our own homes. Landfills in cities and towns are overflowing, public toilets smell like the deepest pits of hell, and most of us don't think twice before we dump garbage on the streets -- as long as it's away from our own home sweet home.
What hope could a sad stink bomb have against such hardy noses that are used to inhaling far malodorous fumes?
Also on HuffPost:
Kashmir Winter Wonderland
Suggest a correction
Published time: 27 Jul, 2017 14:55
High-level officials, who were not authorized to speak openly, told the Hindustan Times that the product, which is mixed with liquid and sprayed on crowds out of a water cannon, performed poorly in a test in New Delhi, despite its arrival being announced with much fanfare earlier.
“The CRPF [Central Reserve Police Force] decided to test a few samples of the Israeli product a few months back. Tests were conducted and the stink bomb was found ineffective,” said one of the officers present at the test. “Those who can ignore [the] smell can drink the liquid also.”
“We used it on a captive crowd… consisting of CRPF personnel and general public. But they managed to tolerate the smell without much difficulty. Maybe Indians have a higher threshold of tolerating stench,” another official told the newspaper.
CRPF director general RR Bhatnagar refused to validate or dispute the testimonies, saying merely that the force “does not share” such confidential information.
'Smelly Bombs' Imported From Israel Are Not Stinky Enough To Work In India, Says CRPF
The bombs smell of decomposed bodies and sewage.
Adrija Bose
The bombs, which can be sprayed from water cannons, smell like decomposed bodies and raw sewage.
Yup. Try imagining that.
What's more, the smell is so strong that it takes days to fade even after multiple showers.
All in all, it's supposed to be a pretty effective weapon. As this report in the Hindustan Times says, Israeli security forces have been using these bombs on Palestinian protesters through water cannons since 2008. And it has worked wonders so far.
Naturally, Indian security forces were pretty hopeful it would work in India too.
So the CRPF, which has 60,000 personnel deployed in Kashmir to assist the local police in maintaining law and order and conduct counter-terrorism operations, decided to try out 'Skunk', the stinky bomb.
"We have used chilli grenades, plastic shell tear smoke, stun grenades, colour-smoke grenades, rubber bullets, dye-marker grenades with skin irritant and multi-tier tear-gas launchers, but they did not yield the desired result," a home ministry official told The Telegraph.
But turns out, even with the stink bombs, the ministry didn't factor in one opponent: the Great Indian Nose.
Most ordinary Indians are surrounded by all kinds of foul smell since the day they are born and spend a lifetime negotiating various odours -- at home, on the streets, on public transport, sometimes even at workplaces. No surprise they have a very high tolerance for stench.
So, when the CRPF forces conducted a test with these bombs in Delhi on a 'captive crowd', consisting of their own personnel and the general public, no one moved an inch.
"Maybe Indians have a higher threshold of tolerating stench," an crestfallen official, who was a part of the test, had to admit.
Again, who's surprised? And, more importantly, WHY?
India generates about 60 million tonnes of trash every year. As Sunita Narain, director of the non-governmental Centre for Science and Environment, has memorably put it: "We are drowning in our excreta."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan wants to clean up India, but many of us are yet to make a start even at our own homes. Landfills in cities and towns are overflowing, public toilets smell like the deepest pits of hell, and most of us don't think twice before we dump garbage on the streets -- as long as it's away from our own home sweet home.
What hope could a sad stink bomb have against such hardy noses that are used to inhaling far malodorous fumes?
Also on HuffPost:
Kashmir Winter Wonderland
Suggest a correction
