10 years after 26/11, 2.2 lakh boats sans tracking devices

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 9

A decade after 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, India is still struggling to put tracking devices on almost 2.22 lakh fishing boats, meaning such boats cannot be identified as friendly or hostile when sailing at sea. Ten armed terrorists had sailed in a hijacked boat to simultaneously attack five different locations in Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008, leaving 166 persons dead in the carnage that ensued.

A decade-long coastal security plan now means a chain of coastal radars can pick up live images of all vessels at sea. However, these 2.2 lakh boats do not have a tracking device called an automated identification system (AIS) transponder. All these fishing boats are under 20 metres in length and, thus, do not come under the need for mandatory installation of AIS transponders. These boats form the bulk of vessels for fishing communities that dot the country’s 7,500 km-long coastline. This is unfinished business of the coastal security plan okayed after 26/11.  

Now, the Indian Space Research Organisation has come up with space-based transponder that will allow signals from boats to shore and even allow transmission of distress messages — like incoming cyclones — to be sent to fishermen at sea. The issue is who will pay for these transponders — the fishermen are small operators and cannot afford the gadget that would cost some Rs 20,000. 

The AIS is mandatory for vessels bigger than 20 metres. The transponder constantly emits a signal that is unique to the boat and the same is picked up by ground-based radars and AIS receivers. The signal identifies the boat, its owner, its registration etc. Some aspects of surveillance at sea are now backed by high-end technology — the very latest. On the positive side, a chain of 46 coastal radars and 74 AIS receivers has been put in place.

In February last year, the Ministry of Defence okayed the second phase of 42 coastal radar chain, including four mobile ones, to supplement the existing 46. These will cost Rs 800 crore, with public sector giant Bharat Electronics Limited undertaking the task. The National Command Control Communication and Intelligence Network with the Information Management Analysis Centre at Gurugram is operational. A total of 51 nodes of the Navy and Coast Guard are integrated — all to provide a comprehensive maritime domain awareness. Biometrics have been collected from 67.5 lakh people in 3,331 coastal villages. 

Crucial gadget that keeps tabs

• Automated identification system (AIS) transponders have to be fitted in boats so that security agencies can keep track 
• But 2.2 lakh boats are less than 20 metres in length, a factor that doesn’t make AIS system must for them
• An AIS transponder costs Rs 20,000, an amount not easily affordable by all fishermen to voluntarily go in for the AIS gadgets