Many more Coast Guard stations will be set up, with continuous radar coverage along the coast, as part of tighter security, following the Mumbai terror attacks.
NEW DELHI: Many more Coast Guard stations will be set up, with continuous radar coverage along the coast, as part of tighter security, following last month’s Mumbai terror attacks.
The Coast Guard has been told to quickly “lease or hire” ships from the global market to meet shortages, the Ministry of Defence said after a meeting between its top brass and the Coast Guard on Saturday. The Coast Guard has started providing special security cover to atomic stations, refineries, Bombay High and ‘high value assets’ along the coast. The government approved “global acquisition of cutting-edge equipment and interceptor boats on a fast-track basis,” an MoD spokesman said. The government had told the Coast Guard to acquire offensive capabilities.
On Saturday, the decision was firmed up at a meeting chaired by Union Defence Minister AK Antony, and attended by, among others, Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and Coast Guard chief Vice Admiral Anil Chopra. The MoD said the meeting decided to set up nine more Coast Guard stations, a proposal for which will be sent for Cabinet approval.
The government also told the Coast Guard to work on a proposal to create an electronic identification system for vessels entering Indian waters. A proposal under government consideration is to have electronic chips on them, but it is expensive and is being opposed by fishing trawler owners. “We will have to find a way out. We are talking to state governments and other agencies,” a senior MoD official said. By fitting every boat registered in India with electronic identification kits, control rooms can easily identify “friends and foes” and take action. Saturday’s meeting also cleared radar coverage of the coastline and a scheme for it will soon be worked out in consultations with the Ministry of Shipping, the MoD said. It was decided “to deploy additional ships and aircraft in these areas.” The Coast Guard will deploy fast attack crafts and regular patrol boats around these installations, the sources said.
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