JOIN US Karnataka is among the few littoral states to have inducted an interceptor speed boat that will enhance the State’s coastal security. The five tonne vessel for the Mangalore Coastal Security Police was inducted at the New Mangalore Port on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after the launch, Western Range Inspector General of Police Gopal B Hosur said two special police units, each comprising 100 personnel, will also be raised to maintain surveillance on activities that are inimical to the interests of the country. Work on the raising and subsequent deployment of the security personnel had already begun, Hosur said.
Additionally, the IGP said, 30 police outposts and 12 checkposts will be opened along the Karnataka coast to ensure preparedness to check underworld and terrorist activities.
The new glass-reinforced plastic interceptor boat built by GSL, Goa, at a cost of Rs 1.05 crore will maintain surveillance along the shallow Mangalore shoreline.
The boat’s speciality is that it will not sink even if water gushed into it and can clock a maximum speed of 40 nautical miles per hour.
There are doubts, however, whether a single interceptor would be enough to keep watch along a 300-km-long coastline that stretches from Mangalore and Karwar. The proposal to introduce interceptor boats in the nine littoral states is part of a coastal security scheme formulated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for strengthening infrastructure for patrolling and surveillance of the country’s coastal belt. Under the scheme, Karnataka will have 5 coastal police stations and 15 boats.