A Rs 31,748 crore "definitive five-year action program" has been approved by the Government for the Coast Guard, which is the country’s smallest defence force but has been crucial since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The action-plan to increase the force-levels of the Coast Guard in terms of vessels, boats, helicopters was cleared in a meeting chaired by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, as The Times of India reported.
The aim is to have a 175-ship and 110-aircraft force for the Coast Guard by 2022. These will help strengthen the capabilities for coastal security, island territories, marine environment as well as undertake anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, oil-spill and pollution-control operations.
The “surface units” with the Coast Guard currently are in the form of 60 ships, 18 hovercrafts, and 52 smaller interceptor boats/crafts. The “air units” are 39 Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft, 19 Chetak choppers and four Dhruv advanced light helicopters.
"The force already has 65 ships and interceptor crafts/boats under construction. Moreover, the acquisition of 30 helicopters for over 5,000 crore is also underway," said a source.
Currently, the Coast Guard has a manpower of around 1,600 officers, 9,000 uniform personnel, 1,200 civilians. It is primarily a non-military security charter, except during war when it joins the Navy for defence operations.
Since the 26/11 attacks, the force acts as the "lead intelligence agency for coastal and sea borders", as the incident revealed the lack of “critical connectivity” between intelligence and security agencies.
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