Coast Guard to install radar to track vessels
New Delhi, Jan. 28: The Coast Guard is planning to install radar on top of lighthouses to monitor movement of vessels in Indian waters close to the coast. This is being done to bolster coastal security in the wake of the threat of terror attacks from the sea route. Top Coast Guard officers said on Thursday that radar, cameras and sensors would be installed atop 38 lighthouses along the coast in the first phase to begin with, which is part of the Coastal Surveillance Network (CSN) programme along the Indian coastline that is being established. The programme is expected to cost the government about Rs 350 crores. Coast Guard officers said the radar on the lighthouses will help detect all movement on the waters at a distance of five miles from the coast.
Coast Guard officers also stated that the Coast Guard is expected to have about 100 ships and 100 aircraft with it by 2012.“The Coast Guard is well on its way to becoming the strongest and most potent non-military maritime force in the Indian Ocean region as well as the fourth largest Coast Guard in the world (by 2012),” Coast Guard director-general Vice-Admiral Anil Chopra said.
Currently, the force has about 43 ships, 23 smaller vessels (boats and craft) and about 45 aircraft. A massive 75 ships are already being built in Indian shipyards and the Coast Guard is bracing for a massive increase in its fleet strength.
Vice-Admiral Chopra also said that 14 joint operations had been conducted with the Navy in Indian waters after getting intelligence inputs since the Mumbai terror attacks. The Coast Guard chiefs of India and Pakistan also speak on a “hotline” every Wednesday, officers said.
Coast Guard officers pointed out that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had sanctioned acquisition of 40 ships, 20 boats and 42 aircraft (for the Coast Guard) in February 2009 and that the government had also accorded “acceptance of necessity” for acquisition of seven offshore patrol vessels, 20 fast patrol vessels and 12 Dornier aircraft.
The Coast Guard is also focusing on increased coordination (hub and spoke concept) between itself and the coastal police forces in the states.
The Coast Guard is also pushing for employment of retired Coast Guard personnel by states to bolster coastal security since this is a large pool of trained manpower.
Coast Guard officers also indicated that its current strength of 7,500 personnel would be doubled in a few years and would record a three-fold rise in about a decade. The Coast Guard has also conducted exercises earlier with the Maldives armed forces.
Age Correspondent
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