Five years after 26/11, small vessels still a threat: Coast Guard - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Small fishing vessels still pose a clear and present danger to India's coastal security, over five years after Ajmal Kasab and nine other terrorists hijacked MV Kuber to land at Mumbai and wreak havoc during the 26/11 strikes.
The much-touted coastal security revamp is yet to become fully functional on the ground, with electronic surveillance measures lagging far behind physical ones. Moreover, the Coast Guard continues to make do with a small fleet of ships and aircraft when at least double their numbers are swiftly required to plug operational gaps.
Coast Guard director-general Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal on Friday said "a lot of work" has been done to bolster coastal security since 26/11, with Rs 600 crore being spent on the Phase-I of the coastal surveillance network (CSN) and another Rs 650 crore approved for Phase-II.
"The efforts are ongoing but one cannot rule out possibilities. You know terrorists are always trying some out-of-box thinking," he said, speaking in the run-up to the 37th anniversary of Coast Guard on Saturday.
There are over two lakh fishing boats operating in India, with at least 60,000 of them venturing into the sea every day. But Phase-I of CSN - 36 radar stations on mainland, six in Lakshadweep and Minicoy and four in Andaman and Nicobar - is still not fully operational. The CSN, incidentally, was first mooted well over a decade ago, much before 26/11.
"Phase-I is in the final phase of stabilization now. It takes time to build, test and tune infrastructure. Phase-II will see 38 more radar stations," said Vice Admiral Thapliyal, adding that a major problem was the difficulty in installing AIS (automatic identification system) transponders on fishing vessels smaller than 20-metre in length.
The new radar stations, with static radar and electro-optic sensors mounted on lighthouses and masts for an electronic sweep up to 25 nautical miles, can detect and identify only vessels fitted with AIS transponders.
"A radio-frequency identification system is being worked out through a pilot project for smaller vessels. It's a fact that they do pose a threat for us. Through community interaction programmes, fishermen are becoming our eyes and ears to thwart possible threats at sea," he said.
But the new coastal security architecture will take another several years to become a reality. The proposed measures include a national AIS chain, transponders on all fishing vessels, VTMS (vessel traffic management system) cover for 13 major and 56 non-major ports, the naval NC3I (national command, control, communication and intelligence) network and the like.
The integrated "national maritime domain awareness" project, with the NC3I network as its backbone, for instance, is stuck in bureaucratic red-tape. The network was supposed to fuse all data from radars, transponders and the like to generate a "common operational picture" of all ongoing activities at sea.
The Coast Guard itself need to be strengthened. At present, it has 133 "surface units", including just six advanced offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), nine OPVs, 17 fast patrol vessels and 14 inshore patrol vessels. The "air units", in turn, are limited to 39 Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft, 20 Chetak choppers and four advanced light helicopters. Coast Guard officials, however, say plans are afoot to make it a 200-ship and 100-aircraft force by 2018.
NEW DELHI: Small fishing vessels still pose a clear and present danger to India's coastal security, over five years after Ajmal Kasab and nine other terrorists hijacked MV Kuber to land at Mumbai and wreak havoc during the 26/11 strikes.
The much-touted coastal security revamp is yet to become fully functional on the ground, with electronic surveillance measures lagging far behind physical ones. Moreover, the Coast Guard continues to make do with a small fleet of ships and aircraft when at least double their numbers are swiftly required to plug operational gaps.
Coast Guard director-general Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal on Friday said "a lot of work" has been done to bolster coastal security since 26/11, with Rs 600 crore being spent on the Phase-I of the coastal surveillance network (CSN) and another Rs 650 crore approved for Phase-II.
"The efforts are ongoing but one cannot rule out possibilities. You know terrorists are always trying some out-of-box thinking," he said, speaking in the run-up to the 37th anniversary of Coast Guard on Saturday.
There are over two lakh fishing boats operating in India, with at least 60,000 of them venturing into the sea every day. But Phase-I of CSN - 36 radar stations on mainland, six in Lakshadweep and Minicoy and four in Andaman and Nicobar - is still not fully operational. The CSN, incidentally, was first mooted well over a decade ago, much before 26/11.
"Phase-I is in the final phase of stabilization now. It takes time to build, test and tune infrastructure. Phase-II will see 38 more radar stations," said Vice Admiral Thapliyal, adding that a major problem was the difficulty in installing AIS (automatic identification system) transponders on fishing vessels smaller than 20-metre in length.
The new radar stations, with static radar and electro-optic sensors mounted on lighthouses and masts for an electronic sweep up to 25 nautical miles, can detect and identify only vessels fitted with AIS transponders.
"A radio-frequency identification system is being worked out through a pilot project for smaller vessels. It's a fact that they do pose a threat for us. Through community interaction programmes, fishermen are becoming our eyes and ears to thwart possible threats at sea," he said.
But the new coastal security architecture will take another several years to become a reality. The proposed measures include a national AIS chain, transponders on all fishing vessels, VTMS (vessel traffic management system) cover for 13 major and 56 non-major ports, the naval NC3I (national command, control, communication and intelligence) network and the like.
The integrated "national maritime domain awareness" project, with the NC3I network as its backbone, for instance, is stuck in bureaucratic red-tape. The network was supposed to fuse all data from radars, transponders and the like to generate a "common operational picture" of all ongoing activities at sea.
The Coast Guard itself need to be strengthened. At present, it has 133 "surface units", including just six advanced offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), nine OPVs, 17 fast patrol vessels and 14 inshore patrol vessels. The "air units", in turn, are limited to 39 Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft, 20 Chetak choppers and four advanced light helicopters. Coast Guard officials, however, say plans are afoot to make it a 200-ship and 100-aircraft force by 2018.
