Two years after 26/11, coastal security builds muscle

[ganimi kawa]

Two years after 26/11, coastal security builds muscle



Two years after ten Pakistani terrorists sailed undetected from Karachi to Mumbai and exposed multiple vulnerabilities in India’s internal security, the government’s most successful response has perhaps been in boosting coastal security. After having long regarded its northern land border as the key security challenge, New Delhi has made significant headway in devising and implementing a new Coastal Security Scheme (CSS).

The new frontline against seaborne terror is guarded by a brand new network of 73 coastal police stations, like the one at Kochi that Business Standard visited. Differentiating it from the traditional thana, the exterior sports a smart blue-and-white maritime motif; inside, the chairs still bear their original plastic protective covering.

Parked on the waterfront are three Fast Interceptor Boats (FIBs), built by Goa Shipyard Limited especially for the coastal police, which cleave through the water at 70 kilometres per hour.


For three hours daily a sea-going police patrol --- motivated by a sea-going allowance of 50% of basic pay --- checks fishing boats for registration papers and identity documents. A “Kadalora Jagratha Samithi” (Coastal Awareness Committee), set up in each coastal district, uses the dynamic fisherfolk networks to monitor activities across the fishing grounds and to report any suspicious activity to a toll-free number --- 1093 --- which routes the call automatically to the nearest coastal police station.

Although policing is a state subject, all this is paid for by New Delhi, through a lump sum allocation of Rs 400 crores for setting up the coastal police network, and Rs 150 crores each year for running expenses, including fuel and maintenance for the boats.

India’s 7600-kilometre maritime border runs through 9 states --- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal --- and 4 union territories: Daman & Diu; Lakshadweep; Puducheri; and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. After the Mumbai terror attack of 26/11, New Delhi decided that the desperately needed coastal police network could not be held hostage to the precarious financial situation of many states.

Besides funding, New Delhi also allocated clear responsibilities for coastal security. The Cabinet Committee for Security (CCS), meeting soon after 26/11, charged the Indian Navy with overall responsibility for maritime security. The Coast Guard was made responsible for security within India’s territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles (about 22 kilometres) from the shore. The new coastal police stations would maintain security up to 5 nautical miles (about 9 kilometres) from the coast, as well as on the shore.


Despite this new clarity the difficulties in implementing the Coastal Security Scheme are staggering, involving the monitoring of 3331 designated coastal villages, tens of thousands of fishing boats, and securing dozens of major and non-major ports and harbours.

This will be achieved, senior MoHA officials tell Business Standard, with the help of three ongoing initiatives:

(a) The issue of biometric identity cards to all fishermen. This is being handled by state governments, with the Department of Fisheries as the nodal agency. In Kerala, for example, ITT Palakkad has already begun collecting biometric data from the fisherfolk community. The MoHA is funding this initiative with Rs 25-30 crores as start-up money.


(b) The National Population Register, being compiled by the Registrar General of India for the 2011 census, has been fast tracked for coastal regions. This process will be linked with the smart card initiative mentioned above.


(c) The third initiative requires the registration of all sailing vessels under the Department of Fisheries. Already, boats larger than 20 feet require an Auto Identification System, without which they would be treated as potentially unfriendly vessels. Now, the Ministry of Shipping is studying a Ministry of Defence request to make this compulsory even for boats below 20 feet length.



Although the navy has been given overall responsibility for coastal security, the coast guard --- which also safeguards India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.08 million square kilometres --- is being rapidly expanded for the Coastal Security Scheme. On 25th October, Defence Minister Antony informed senior Coast Guard commanders that the coast guard had been sanctioned an additional 4026 personnel, a strength increase of more than 30%. And the coast guard’s current fleet of 91 surface ships and 45 aircraft is being more than doubled.



But the physical policing of the coastline and territorial water is just one dimension of the Coastal Security Scheme. Also nearing completion is a high-tech surveillance network for keeping a 24x7 visual and electronic watch over the approaches to India’s coastline.

 

[Kinetic]

Good initiatives. ISRO is is undertaking trials for transponders for the 400000-plus fishing boats and satellite based SAR capabilities. Lets see..

 

[ganimi kawa]

From broadsword

BEL says new coastal surveillance system is ready


At least one of the lessons of the Mumbai terror strike of 26/11 --- when ten Laskhar-e-Toiba terrorists set out from Karachi, hijacked an Indian fishing boat, the MV Kuber, and sailed into the heart of Mumbai undetected --- have been fully absorbed by the government. The approaches to India’s coastline will soon be amongst the most carefully watched waters in the world.



In the aftermath of 26/11, the apex Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) issued detailed orders, and allocated funds, to implement a Coastal Surveillance Scheme, to ensure a 24x7x365 watch over India’s 7600-kilometre coastline so that no hostile elements could sneak in by sea again.


The Coastal Surveillance Scheme is ready for implementation. It relies on a chain of electro-optic sensors --- i.e. radars, and day and night cameras --- that are being installed on lighthouses and towers that look out at the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The key challenge in setting up the scheme has been in transmitting the data picked up from multiple sensors all along the coast to surveillance centres located in the interior, and then integrating that data into a coherent operational picture.

That problem has now been solved, says defence PSU, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which is putting the finishing touches on the software for the Coastal Surveillance Scheme. On a visit to BEL Bangalore, Business Standard was demonstrated how the Rs 700 crore system would function within a Remote Operating Station, the name for the Coast Guard surveillance centre that would be receiving data from a chain of lighthouses and towers along the coast. Advanced “data fusion” techniques are then employed to integrate all that information.

“Data fusion has been a key design challenge”, affirms BEL’s R&D chief, I V Sarma.

“If two adjoining radars pick up a single boat, which often happens, the software must recognised that and combine those two images into that of a single boat. Fortunately, BEL had built up enormous experience in data fusion while developing the navy’s Combat Management Systems, which also integrates the inputs from multiple radars on board a warship; and also while building an Integrated Air Command and Control System for the IAF.”



Besides integrating multiple inputs into a common operational picture, the software allows the Remote Operating Station to remotely manipulate its coastal radars and cameras --- through a Camera Management System --- to observe suspicious objects in greater detail.

In a quick demonstration staged for Business Standard, an oil tanker, which had been detected by a thermal-imaging night vision camera at a distance of 36 kilometers from the coast, was declared a suspicious vessel. A click by the operator on the oil tanker’s screen image automatically fed its coordinates to the camera, which zoomed in quickly, giving the operator a detailed look.

“The cameras and radars are Israeli”, admit the BEL operators, “but we are working on developing them indigenously.”

The software also performs other tasks that include monitoring the health of the remote systems; and an alarm system that alerts the operators when a vessel enters a designated “sensitive zone”;

In Phase 1, the coast guard is setting up 46 electro-optic sensor stations in high-threat areas, and 12 Remote Operating Stations. This will be expanded in Phase 2 to cover the entire coastline within three years. The most recent installations are radar stations in Dwarka and Navodra, which feed into a Remote Operating Station at Porbandar, about 100 km away. Distance is irrelevant, with data being transmitted through two dedicated lines of 2 MBPS each.

The 12 Remote Operating Stations feed into one of four Regional Operating Centres at Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai and Visakhapatanam. Finally, all this information is fed in real time to the apex Control Centre at New Delhi, where it is integrated into a single national-level picture.

For this, the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal agency but coordinates with multiple agencies, including the coastal state governments; the fisheries department; the department of lighthouses and lightships; and port authorities, amongst others.

 

[JanjaWeed]

Two years after 26/11, coastal security builds muscle

now.. that's what i call 'doing something about it'.. instead of blaming others for the evils happeining in your country. good that govt realises it's responsibility towards it's people & are doing something about it.
there is a lot more to be done.. only yesterday i read a article, where 'force one' is still not equipped with propper weapons, gadgets & shelter. hope our leaders do realise the fact that security of it's citizens are first & foremost!!

 

[CaptainJackSparrow]

Two years after 26/11, coastal security builds muscle

now.. that's what i call 'doing something about it'.. instead of blaming others for the evils happeining in your country. good that govt realises it's responsibility towards it's people & are doing something about it.
there is a lot more to be done.. only yesterday i read a article, where 'force one' is still not equipped with propper weapons, gadgets & shelter. hope our leaders do realise the fact that security of it's citizens are first & foremost!!

I'll wait and watch before getting overly excited.

We all know the sarkaari way of working.