Question: Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to satate :-

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to satate :-
(a) whether there exists security gaps along the Indian Coastline;

(b) if so, whether Government proposes to set up additional Coast Guard Stations in different parts of the country; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

Answer: Minister of Defence (Shri A.K. Antony)

(a) to (c): Government attaches utmost importance to nation’s coastal security and surveillance. Review and monitoring of coastal security mechanism is a continuous process. Several measures to strengthen Coastal Security, including improving surveillance mechanism and enhanced patrolling by security agencies following an integrated approach have been put in place. Joint operational exercises are conducted on regular basis among Navy, Coast Guard, Coastal Police, customs and others. The intelligence mechanism has been streamlined through the creation of Joint Operation Centres and multi-agency coordination mechanism. Installation of radars covering the country’s coastline and islands is also an essential part of this process. Deployment of assets is done as per threat inputs / perceptions and requirements.

Coast Guard stations at a particular place are set up after taking into account the threat perception, vulnerability gap analysis and presence of other stations / coastal marine police stations in the vicinity. Until 2008, the Indian Coast Guard had 22 stations. Since then 20 additional stations have been sanctioned for different parts of the country. There are currently 41 stations which are established and one station at Frazerganj (West Bengal) is in the process of being set up.

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