Introduction

The Indian Coast Guard [Bharatiya Thatrakshak] was constituted as the fourth armed union of India, on 19 August 1978, under the Coast Guard Act. The force's main function is to protect India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), covering an area of 2.02 million sq. km, and operates under the effective control of the Ministry of Defense. Coast Guard vessels and aircraft have been assisting the custom authorities in anti-smuggling operations and has effectively served national interests in high-risk areas. They are also used in SAR operations, anti-pollution and other duties in maritime zones. While protection of the high seas is vested with the Indian Navy, the area between 10 and 30 nautical miles from the shore is under the charge of the Coast Guard and from shore to five nautical miles with the coastal police as well as the Coast Guard.

It's Responsibilities Include:

• Enforcing the provisions of enactment in force in the maritime zones.

• Assisting the Customs and other authorities in anti-smuggling operations.

• To preserve & protect the marine environment and control marine pollution.

• Measures for safety of life and property at sea including aid to mariners in distress.

• Ensuring the safety & protection of artificial islands, offshore terminals and other installations in MR zones.

*The Coast Guard is the nodal agency for oil spill response in India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the national oil disaster contingency plan. Currently, the Coast Guard has capability to combat oil pollution up to 10,000 tons (Tier-II) and is in the process of upgrading its capability to more than 10,000 tons (Tier-III). Towards this, three pollution control vessels (refer to the 'Coast Guard Fleet' sub-section) are being inducted into the fleet, the first of which is likely to be commissioned in September 2006.

Personnel

The Coast Guard has a strength of approximately 1000 officers and 5200 other personnel. The force is led by a Director General and a Deputy Director General. Vice Admiral Anil Chopra is the present Director General of the Coast Guard.

* With three years seniority
† Under training after completion of Phase III afloat training and during sub courses
◊ Under training after completion of Phase II afloat training

Operational Commands

• The Indian Coast Guard's Central HQ is located in New Delhi.

• Regional HQs are located at Mumbai, Chennai and Port Blair in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

• West Coast District HQs are located at Porbandar, Mumbai, Mangalore, Kochi and Goa. The District HQ at Porbander includes coast guard stations at Jakhau, Vadinar and Okha and an air station at Porbandar itself. The District HQ at Kochi includes coast guard stations at Kavaratti and Vizhinjam. The District HQ at Goa includes an coast guard air enclave at Daman.

• East Coast District HQs are located at Chennai, Vizag, Paradip, Haldia and Kolkata. The District HQ at Chennai includes coast guard stations at Tuticorin and Mandapam.

• Port Blair District HQs are located at Diglipur and Campbell Bay.

*The Coast Guard is taking all possible measures to safeguard the long coastal line of India from terrorism & sabotage, with special focus on the highly sensitive west coast ringing Maharashtra and Gujarat. Construction on eight new Coast Guard Stations have already commenced, as part of security measures to prevent terrorist activities at sea. The new stations are coming up at Pipavav in Gujarat, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Beypore in Kerala, Karwar in Karnataka, Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, the seventh in Pondichery and the eighth in the Andaman Islands.

Coast Guard in the Future

India has a 7,516 km coastline, 1197 islands and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) spanning 2.02 million sq km, which is expected to go up to almost 3 million sq km after the delimitation of the continental shelf. The Coast Guard has also seen a sharp increase in piracy on the high seas, smuggling contrabands, search-and-rescue operations and to prevent 'possible' covert transfers of weapons of mass destruction and thus additional personnel & equipment will be needed to effectively carry out its duties. The Coast Guard has projected force levels of 268 vessels (including 173 small patrol craft), 113 aircraft, 18 Nishant UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and Aerostat & OTH (over-the-horizon) radars by 2017, which is just a little over a decade away. Included in these force levels are 60 helicopters, 35 Do-228 aircraft for coastal surveillance (an increase from the 24 aircraft currently in service), 11 medium-range reconnaissance aircraft, more than 40 interceptor boats and six deep-sea patrol vessels.

The Press Trust of India (PTI), reported on 02 July 2007, that the government has placed acquisition orders for five fast patrol vessels, two advanced offshore patrol vessels, three pollution control vessels, five inshore patrol vessels and 11 interceptor boats. The Coast Guard realizes that ship traffic in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay is expected to grow immensely, with the Sethusamudram (pronounced as Saythu-Samu-Dhram) ship canal project, currently being built near Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu as a shorter maritime route between India's eastern and western coasts. The force is also gradually taking over the activities related to Operation Tasha and Operation Swan, currently conducted by the Indian Navy. Operation Tasha involves patrolling conducted in the Palk Bay, along the Tamil Nadu coast, mainly due to terrorist activities and the influx of refugees. Operation Swan began after the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, to enhance coastal security and patrolling on the west coast against suspicious movement of hostile ships.

Coast Guard Fleet

Coast Guard Aviation

Articles on the Coast Guard

Deep Waters: Life in the Coast Guard

Links

Official Site of the Indian Coast Guard

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