Only 8 of 46 boats procured by Mumbai Police after 26/11 attacks are functional now

The Mumbai Police purchased 46 boats to patrol the city’s coast within three years of 26/11. However, only eight of them are functional today.

In the backyard of the Mumbai Police launch station lies an amphibious boat that can navigate both sea and land, along with a dozen speed boats that were part of the fleet purchased after the 2008 terror attack, according to a report in The Indian Express.

These boats were acquired in response to the inadequacy of resources faced by the Maharashtra capital during the terror attack, where 10 Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists from Pakistan infiltrated the city through the Arabian Sea to reach Mumbai’s coast.

Prior to the attacks on November 26, the Mumbai Police had only four fiberglass boats for patrolling the waters. This equipment shortage was also highlighted by the Pradhan Inquiry Commission, a High-Level Enquiry Commission that investigated the response of the security forces at that time.

Of the 46 boats procured over the next three years, there were 23 speed boats, 19 amphibious boats and four other “Sealeg” boats — an advanced amphibious craft, the publication reported.

“The amphibious boats and four Sealegs were procured from a company in New Zealand and we were to send our personnel there to get know how and training in repairing these boats. However, things did not work out and the boats started developing snags due to which a majority of them are no longer operational,” a senior police officer told.

However, the engines of 13 speed boats were reportedly replaced with old ones by contract workers.

“The contractors had removed the original, powerful engines of the patrolling boats and fitted old and weak engines and charged the government for installing new engines as per its cost for wrongful gains,” read the FIR that followed.

The Mumbai Police has requested the Home Department for 22 additional boats, with plans to allocate 12 for coastal patrolling. Additionally, they aim to modernize 13 out of their existing fleet of 23 boats.

“We intend to update the engines of these boats that will help us increase its speed. We will also be replacing the navigation and GPS system with the advance technology and modernisation of each boat will cost around 73 lakh,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Nimba Patil from Motor Vehicle department.