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Introduction

India has a 7516.6-kilometre coastline, which is bordered on the east by the mainland and islands of the Bay of Bengal, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the west by the Arabian Sea. Nine Indian states, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala and four Union Territories (UTs) named Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, are coastal regions. 

Maritime and Coastal Security Set-up 

  • The Indian Navy is responsible for India’s maritime security, including offshore and coastal security. Indian Navy is assisted by Coastal Police, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), and other Central and State agencies in the task of maritime security. 
  • The Indian Coast Guard is also authorised and commissioned to protect coastal security in Territorial Waters, including areas to be patrolled by Coastal Police. 
  • The Commander Coastal Command has been designated as Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard, responsible for liaison with central and state authorities in all areas related to coastal safety and security. 

Coastal Security Scheme (CSS)

  • Department of Border Management implements CSS in a phased manner with the objective of upgrading the infrastructure of the Coastal States/UTs Police Force for patrolling and monitoring of coastal areas, particularly shallow waters near the coast. 
  • With a budgetary outlay of 646 crores, spending over a span of 6 years, phase-I of the CSS was introduced in 2005-06. 
  • Coastal security dimensions were completely changed after the Mumbai attacks on November 26, 2008. CSS (Phase-II) was formulated to stop future such attacks. Thereafter, vulnerability/gap analysis was conducted by coastal States and UTs. It suggested further strengthening the coastal security infrastructure across India. 
  • With a budgetary outlay of ₹ 1579.91 crores, CSS (Phase II) has been approved and is under implementation status (up to 31.03.2020 data).

Important Initiatives after 2008 Mumbai Attacks: 

  • National Committee on Strengthening Maritime & Coastal Security (NCSMCS) under Cabinet Security.
  • NC3I (National Command, Control & Communication Intelligence Network) to share intelligence between navy, marine police and ICG.
  • Joint Operation Centres by Navy at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair.

Other Coastal Security Initiatives

  • Community Interaction Programmes (CIP): CIPs are conducted by ICG with three-fold objectives: train fishermen to be “Eyes and Ears” in intelligence collection, raise awareness among fishermen about safety hazards at sea and sensitise the fishing community about the current security situation.
  • Fishermen biometric ID cards: Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying & Fisheries (DAHD&F) issues Fisherman Biometric ID Cards to the fishermen. 99 % of the total identified eligible fishermen (19,74,098 out of 19,90,521) received biometric ID cards, as per DAHD&F. 
  • Tracking of vessels/boats: All vessels over 20m long are required by law to be equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS) equipment. 
  • In accordance with the guidelines of the National Committee on Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security (NCSMCS), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been requested to supply 500 transponders each to the coastal states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. 
  • In line with NCSMCS decisions, ISRO is in the process of delivering and integrating the 500 transponders each for Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
  • Coastal mapping: Coastal mapping is an important step in strengthening coastal security. It is a way of mapping information such as coastal police stations, local police stations, intelligence centres, fisheries, fishing communities, harbours, customs check posts, hospitals, train stations, bus stations, bomb disposal services, and more. 
  • The coastal mapping process is almost finalised in Indian states, namely Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and in UTs, namely Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, along with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 
  • The exercise is now being completed in Lakshadweep.
  • National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP): Approval of setting up the National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) in Mojap village, District, Devbhoomi, Dwarka, in the State of Gujarat is granted by the Indian Government. 
  • For this, 100 hectares of land have been identified by MHA, and a temporary campus is functional with effect from October 2018.