Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy participate in a safety drill

NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will soon help agencies engaged in coastal and maritime security to track suspicious vessels and boats through satellite imagery. The initiative, under which Isro will supply 1,000 transponders by March next year for satellite monitoring of boats, is aimed at preventing a 26/11 attack-type infiltration from the sea route.

While automatic identification system will monitor boats measuring above 20 metres, satellite monitoring is proposed for the sub-20m boats, a home ministry official said on Friday.

The infrastructure for tighter monitoring of suspicious vessels approaching the Indian coast is coming up fast, with 46 coastal radars and 74 automatic ID systems installed. Colour coding of boats is also being undertaken by the coastal states and UTs for easier monitoring in the high seas and on the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

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The aforesaid measures are part of home ministry’s efforts to beef up coastal security in wake of the breach that triggered the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Ten Pakistani terrorists had sailed all the way from Karachi coast to Mumbai, starting in a Pakistani vessel and then shifting to an Indian fishing boat they had hijacked mid-sea, before landing undetected on the Mumbai coast in a rubber dinghy. They unleashed mayhem at the city’s iconic buildings including Taj Hotel, thereafter, killing 166 people.

Meanwhile, a home ministry official on Friday said biometric cards have been issued to most fishermen. Of the 19.9 lakh target beneficiaries, 19.7 lakh have enrolled and cards issued to 18.6 lakh of them. Standard operating procedures have been drawn up for dealing with breach of IMBL, better coordination among all stakeholders and upgrading security in non-major ports.

India has a long coastline of 7,516 km running through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With many vital installations such as nuclear plants, sea ports, naval stations, satellite/missile launching centres and oil installations located on the coastline, prime importance is accorded to coastal and maritime security.

While Phase 1 of the Integrated Coastal Security Scheme was implemented at a cost of Rs 646 crore between 2005 and 2011, Phase 2 involving a Rs 1,580-crore outlay is nearing completion.

