Republic of India - Customs Marine Units

[Hindustani78]

Coastal States/ UTs were provided with 73 Coastal Police Stations, 97 Checkposts, 58 Out posts and 30 Barracks equipped with 204 boats, 153 Four Wheelers, 312 Motorcycles and 10 Rubber Inflatable Boats. 204 boats have been procured centrally by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Construction work of Coastal Police Stations, barracks,check posts, out posts and procurement of vehicles has been done by Coastal States/UTs.Further, a lump sum assistance of`10 lakhs per Coastal Police Station was also given for computers and equipments etc.

The intelligence mechanism has also been streamlined through the creation of Joint Operation Centers and multi-agency coordination mechanism. Installation of radars covering the country’s entire coastline and islands is also an essential part of this process. 34 radars stations on the mainland have been activated.

Coast Guard Stations along the coastline are setup considering the threat perception, vulnerability analysis and presence of other stations in the vicinity. At present 40 Coast Guard Stations along the coastline including 8 stations in Gujarat are functional.


KOTTAYAM, November 03, 2018 23:31 IST
Updated: November 03, 2018 23:31 IST

Third marine unit in State will most probably be stationed at port

Taking into consideration the prospective growth in marine traffic through the coastline, the Customs Department will soon station a Marine Preventive Unit for maritime surveillance in the region.

According to Indian Navy officials, a proposal to form the unit has already been moved to the Union Ministry through the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise, and Central Tax.

The proposal follows a request to this effect made by the Government through the District Collector.

The Customs Department currently operates two marine preventive units in Kerala — one each at Beypore and Kochi.

Equipped with patrol boats, these units work in tandem with the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, and Coastal police stations.

Confirming the move, Customs Commissioner said the units would most probably be stationed at the ports. “The units will be trained to intercept, board, search, and seize suspicious vessels and will be entrusted to check smuggling through sea routes and inland waterways,” Indian Navy officials said.

Indian Navy officials said stationing a marine preventive units in the region was a crucial move, considering the earlier reports of rampant liquor smuggling by seafaring fishing boats.

In their opinion, these routes could also be potentially used to smuggle drugs, fake currency notes, or even explosives.

For Lakshadweep

The Customs is most likely to constitute a similar unit for the Lakshadweep islands, the administration of which has approached the department seeking to declare its seaport at Kavaratti, Minicoy, and Agatti as ‘Customs area’. A proposal pertaining to this would soon be sent to the Union Ministry for its consideration.

Meanwhile, official sources flagged concerns over the shortage of manpower experienced by the department. “Once these proposals are approved, we would require more manpower because the Customs with a staff shortage of close to 40%, is already stretched to the limit. The government will have to recruit through the Staff Selection Commission,” Indian Navy officials said.

 

[Hindustani78]

26/11 Mumbai Attacks: Lack of quality infrastructure, muddled planning and lack of a clear mandate have jinxed the coastal police station network that was supposed to be the last line of defence against 26/11-style attacks in India’s financial capital
india Updated: Nov 24, 2018 07:52 IST

The need for coastal police stations was felt urgently after the 26/11 attacks when the terrorists took the sea route to reach Mumbai and were able to dock at Badhwar Park without being intercepted. The coastal police stations were envisaged as the last line of defence, after the navy and the coast guard, and they were mandated to intercept any suspicious boat within a range of 12 nautical miles from the coast.

But top state police officials say on condition of anonymity that the three-tier security system is not feasible under current capacities and that the force is neither trained nor meant to patrol the seas, and should focus on law and order.

“The coastal police stations are important to keep an eye on the coastal area as Mumbai is surrounded by sea. In the last 10 years, the government has taken its best efforts to strengthen the coastal area with the establishing of the coastal police stations. Also, it is necessary to have fishery monitoring, control and surveillance,” said SPS Basra, retired additional director general, Indian Coast Guard.

As of 2018, there are 50 police stations along the coast of Maharashtra and 70-odd boats of various types, including patrol boats and interceptors. “There are over 60 landing points where CCTVs have been installed in the past two years, which are being monitored by the Mumbai police,” said Pravin Padwal, additional commissioner of police (port).

In Mumbai, the coastal police have three major police stations: Yellow Gate Mumbai, Sagari 1 (Mahim), and Sagari 2 (Gorai). The force has 12 speedboats to patrol the length of Mumbai’s 114-kilometre-long coastline.

But there are chinks in the armour. The Sagari I police station, for example, operates out of eight cramped rooms on the ground floor of the Mahim police lines, where it has been since its inception in 2007. The construction of a permanent police station is underway at Reti-Bunder in Mahim but work stalled in 2015 after a petition alleged coastal zone regulation violation.

“We have recently started a beat chowki in Mahim area near the landing point, but it does not yet have a water supply. We were hoping the police station will be operational by December end but it seems it will take yet another year,” said a Sagari I policeman, requesting not to be named.

In the compact cabin of the police station in-charge, a television that is more a relic of the 90s sits on the desk. A CCTV camera in the cabin faces downwards, limp. Of the three police vans available with this station, only two are used regularly, owing to a lack of staff. The station faces not the sea but a thick swamp of mangroves.

In Sagari I, the staff strength is currently 50 though the sanctioned strength is 750. Sagari II has a sanctioned strength of 300, an actual strength of 120 and at any given time, only 55 personnel are on duty.

Currently, the Sagari I policemen patrol areas stretching from Bandra to Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai. The remaining stretch – Bandra till Uttan in Bhayandar -- is patrolled by Sagari II personnel. Neither police station has executive powers and, therefore, sticks to patrolling.With three boats at each police station, policemen patrol for eight hours at a stretch and then change shifts.

But what these stations may lack in equipment, they appear to more than make up in spirit. Talking about the 26/11 attacks, a middle-aged policemen outside Sagari II station says, “We were not prepared then. But now we have rigorously trained and one man of ours will take hundreds of Kasabs.”