Coast Guard will now enter shallow waters

Newly inducted speedboats will allow it to patrol and give chase closer to the coast as well

Coast Guard will now enter shallow waters

Newly inducted speedboats will allow it to patrol and give chase closer to the coast as well

THE Indian Coast Guard will now be able to take up the role of providing the last line of defence against terrorists along with the coastal police with the induction of six new speedboats in its fleet.

The boats, capable of patrolling shallow waters, will allow the Coast Guard to keep watch on areas which are five nautical miles from the coast previously the sole domain of the coastal police.

The speedboats will help the coast guard patrol areas up to five nautical miles from the coast as well

Inspector General, Coast Guard (west region), S P S Basra told MiD DAY that the first lot of high-speed attack-cum-interceptors have been delivered from shipyards in Goa.

They have been stationed at Janjira. A senior Coast Guard official said that, after 26/11, the state coastal police was assigned the task of protecting and patrolling the shore up to five nautical miles, the Coast Guard between five and 20 nautical miles and the Indian Navy beyond 20 nautical miles.

However, with the induction of the speedboats, the Coast Guard will be able to help the coastal police and the Mumbai police in patrolling areas up to five nautical miles.
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Previously, the Coast Guard offshore patrol vessels were capable of plying only in depths of 30 metres and above.

They would, thus, become sitting ducks if the enemy managed to slip into shallow waters as had happened in the case of M V Kuber, which slipped into the sea around Colaba.

The beefing of security comes at a time when there are dozens of alerts pointing to a sea-borne attack along the shores similar to the Lashkar-e-Taiba attacks on 26/11.

More to come

The state government has ordered 29 speedboats for maintaining coastal security in addition to 20 vessels being provided by the Government of India.

These boats will cost the exchequer around Rs 250 crore.

The Coast Guard has also presented a plan to the state government and Director General of Police to conduct a door-to-door survey of residents living along the coastline.

The census will have details of all the people living in fishing villages, housing complexes and other establishments.

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The coastal police, meanwhile, is facing a shortage of 700-odd personnel to man its fast patrol boats. Vacancies exist in the categories of captains,u00a0 engine operators and khalasis or able-bodied seamen. From the available strength of 71 bulletproof speedboats, only 30 are operational. Another 24 are in the pipeline and 209 posts need to be filled so that all the vessels can be used.