Two lakh fishing boats to get tracking device

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, May 27

Over 14 years after the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai, the government has finally plugged a vital gap in the coastal security architecture. Almost two lakh small fishing boats will get a tracking device called the automated identification system (AIS).

At present, without the tracking device, small boats, which are less than 20 metres, cannot be identified by technology as friendly or hostile. Each such vessel needs to be physically checked, a daunting task.

The AIS will be provided free of cost to two lakh such vessels under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. Transponders will be manufactured by ISRO and supported by new satellites.

“This was an unfinished business of the coastal security plan okayed after 26/11,” an official said. The National Committee on Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, had laid out an elaborate plan after the 26/11 attacks.

An AIS transponder costs Rs 20,000, an amount not easily affordable for fishermen with small boats.