Dec 7, 2009

Navy: Coastal Security ContinuedConcerns

            Defence Minister Shri AK Antonypresided over a high-level meeting on Coastal Security during the month,underlining on an integrated approach put in place post-Mumbai terror attacksby the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. The procurement schedules of PatrolVessels, Interceptor Boats, Surveillance Aircraft and Radars planned to enhancecoastal security was also reviewed during the meeting. 80 Fast InterceptorCrafts are being acquired for the Sagar Prahari Bal of the Indian Navy at acost of Rs. 320 crores. The Coast Guard would get a big boost with theacquisition of 74 ships / high speed boats / hovercrafts and four Dornieraircraft. One Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV) and two interceptor boatswere added to the Coast Guard fleet this year and another six will becommissioned by March next year. Director General, Coast Guard Vice AdmiralAnil Chopra informed the meeting that the acquisitions worth over Rs. 6,000crores are progressing well.

TheDefence Minister said that the Government has delegated financial powers to theCommander-in-Chiefs to hire boats for Coastal patrolling till the time the newdeliveries take place. He also asked the Coast Guard to expedite therecruitment of 3,000 personnel recently approved by the Government. TheGovernment has already sanctioned nine new Coast Guard Stations. The RegionalHeadquarter under an Inspector General has been made operational in Gandhinagarin September 2009 to coordinate the patrolling and surveillance off GujaratCoast. An air squadron has beenactivated in Porbandar in June, 2009.

            Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma saidthat nine operations were carried out along the West Coast based onintelligence inputs. Joint operations are being carried out between the CoastGuard, Coastal Police and Customs and the Navy, which is the overall in chargeof Coastal Security, to check the effectiveness of the new systems put intooperation, he added. In the recently concluded ‘Operation Rakshak’ inSeptember-October, 2009, 165 merchant vessels and 259 fishing vessels wereinterrogated by Navy and Coast Guard. In July, 2009, Coast Guard conducted ajoint exercise “Barricade” along Tamil Nadu Coast along with Navy and otherCentral and State agencies with a great success. For the first time 13 agenciesacted together; even the local fisherman were involved along with the Districtadministration. Eleven Joint Exercises have been conducted along all thecoastal states. Defence Secretary Shri Pradeep Kumar said the BharatElectronics Limited is in the process of installing forty six radars costingabout Rs. 300 crores all along the Indian coast including the Islandsin the first phase of forming a radar chain.

            The meeting also took stock of theCoastal Security Scheme of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. 64 CoastalPolice Stations have been made operational. 25 out of 97 check-posts have beenoperationalised and 42 boats supplied. Defence Minister directed the concernedofficials to expedite the delivery of the remaining 152 boats which are in thepipeline. Coast Guard and Navy are providing training to marine police and othersupport to State Governments in matters connected with Boats and their manning.It was agreed that fishermen need to be involved actively and impartedtraining. 1,500 have been trained. Navy has trained 74 in Mumbai.

TheIndian Coast Guard is entrusted with the responsibility of protecting themaritime interests of India.It includes ensuring the safety and protection of offshore assets such as oilrigs, platforms and terminals within India's maritime zones, providingprotection to fishermen in distress, taking necessary measures to preserve andprotect the maritime environment, assisting the Customs and other authoritiesin anti-smuggling operations, measures for the safety of life and property atsea; and for collection of scientific data. In addition, the Coast Guard isalso tasked with providing humanitarian assistance of search and rescue at sea.

            Post 26/11, the responsibility ofthe Coastal Security from shoreline up to territorial waters has also beenentrusted to the Coast Guard. In addition, the Director General Indian CoastGuard has been designated as the Commander Coastal Command, with theresponsibility for overall coordination between various Central and Stateagencies, in all matters relating to the coastal security. In response to theenhanced responsibilities, the Coast Guard is pursuing urgent enhancement ofits surveillance capabilities so as to meet its tasks and responsibilitieseffectively. The present force-levels and Manpower are projected to be doubledin a few years by graduated procurement, with proportionate correspondinginfrastructure development and augmentation of the trained manpower. Thesetting up of 15 additional stations is part of this effort.

            During the High Level meeting, theCabinet Secretary Shri KM Chandrashekharan reiterated that an effectivemechanism can be possible only when there is combined action of Navy, CoastGuard and States. States have to be integrated into the system as it hasrecently started producing results in flow of information. In this, the role offishermen is very important. The National Security Advisor Shri MK Narayananstressed on the important role of Navy and Coast Guard in coastal security andwanted the response time to be quickened.

            During the post-Mumbai attack, oneof the key achievements has been operationalising the Joint Operation Centresat Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochiand Port Blair under Naval Commander-in-Chiefs (C-in-Cs), who have beendesignated as C-in-Cs of Coastal Defence. Coastal States have also nominatedNodal Officers for effective coordination. Further the intelligence – sharingmechanism has been streamlined. A toll-free number 1093 for coastal securityhas been set up. [Based on MOD India Press Release].

            Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, DirectorGeneral Coast Guard also commissioned the Coast Guard station at Karwar. 14more stations will be established to address the security gap along thecoastline. The Indian Coast Guard station at Karwar will have two fast speedboats, to undertake search and rescue, close coast patrol and respond toemergency calls on as required basis.

            With the memories of the terrorstrike from sea on 26/11 in Mumbai haunting the government there were manyefforts to bring out measures taken to denote that security framework hasfallen into place. By ensuring that the coastline is sutured from any possibleterrorist infiltration by according top priority to coastal security through anintegrated approach the Central government hopes to avoid another tragedy.  Despite the assertions by the Defence Minsterand the Naval chief, there are many gaps in the coastal security arrangementsin the Western coast whereas in the East there is a lesser priority andtherefore there is lack of security build up. The government has very rightlyprioritized build up on the West coastal areas in Maharashtra and Gujarat andtherefore there would be more build up on this side than in other areas in theEast where the threat is still to manifest as per intelligence agencies.

Procurementof equipment has been delayed and therefore there are some critical comments bythe media and other agencies on what has to be done more to ensure securityagainst a terror attack. More time will be required for the coastal radarsurveillance network, with 46 radars in the first phase, the comprehensivechain of AIS (automatic identification system) stations and the specialisednaval force `Sagar Prahari Bal', with 1,000 personnel and 80 fast interceptioncraft (FACs), to become fully-operational. It is envisaged that the government would continue to strive to do sofor the political fallout of not doing the same could be very high.

            The many gaps in the coastal areasthus continue in spheres such as doctrines, where the Navy has yet to establishthe veracity of a littoral and asymmetric warfare doctrine, the second issue isinduction of additional boats and crafts for surveillance and finally is thecommand and control and coordination. In all these facets there aredeficiencies which need to be made up if the Navy and Coast Guards desire tobuild up its security grid in the coastal areas.( DEC 2009)

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