New Delhi: To avoid the attack of 26/11 in future the government has approved a 31,748 crore “definitive five-year action programme” for the Coast Guard. The plan that aims to make the Coast Guard a 175-ship and 110-aircraft force by 2022 was cleared at a meeting chaired by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra earlier this month.
The Coast Guard, which is the Defence Ministry’s smallest armed force after the Army, Indian Air Force and Navy, plays a crucial role in ensuring coastal security, protecting island territories, offshore assets and marine environment.
The motive behind the action plan is to bolster the force levels of Coast Guard in terms of offshore patrol vessels, boats, helicopters, aircraft and critical operational infrastructure. The move towards strengthening the capabilities of Coast Guard came after the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike exposed loopholes in the country’s coastal security architecture.
With an existing manpower of around 1,600 officers, 9,000 uniformed personnel and 1,200 civilians, the Coast Guard primarily has a non-military maritime security charter. The Coast Guard currently has 13 ‘surface units’, which include 60 ships (offshore patrol vessels, fast patrol vessels and pollution-control vessels), 18 hovercrafts, and 52 smaller interceptor boats/crafts.
It also has 39 Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft, 19 Chetak choppers and four Dhruv advanced light helicopters in its ‘air units’. “The force already has 65 ships and interceptor crafts/boats under construction. Moreover, the acquisition of 30 helicopters for over 5,000 corers is also underway,” a source told media.
An order has been placed for 16 indigenous Dhruv choppers and the procurement of 14 twin-engine EC-725 tactical choppers is in the final stages of approval now. The force will also get five more air stations/enclaves. “The existing 42 stations (20 were sanctioned after 26/11), under the five regional headquarters at Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Port Blair, will also be fully-developed and made ‘smart’ with better infrastructure,” the source was quoted as saying.
India has a 7,516-km coastline, with 1,382 islands. The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks exposed the lack of coordination between intelligence agencies and security agencies. Since then the Coast Guard has intensified maritime vigil and is acting as the “lead intelligence agency for coastal and sea borders”.
