- Joined
- Apr 17, 2009
- Messages
- 43,132
- Likes
- 23,835
A good move to bolster the surveillance over the Bay and Sunderbans in peace and war.Navy to station UAVs at Behala airfield Sagar to get missiles
KOLKATA: The Navy will commission a squadron of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) at the Behala airfield in south Kolkata soon. This was announced by Commodore Brian A Thomas, naval officer-in-charge (NOIC), West Bengal, in Kolkata on Friday. The Navy has sought 15 acres at the airfield from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on a 30-year-lease for this purpose. The AAI has agreed on principle and the formalities are expected to be completed soon.
The coastal battery at Diamond Harbour, set up by the British, has lost its purpose and a new battery will come up at Sagar Island. This battery will comprise missiles to take on enemy ships during aggression, Commandere M Kulshrestha, chief staff officer, said.
The squadron will comprise Searcher and Heron UAVs and will be used for surveillance of the Sunderbans and the Bay of Bengal. Naval UAV bases already exist in Kochi, Porbandar and Chennai. The Navy has also urged the Centre to provide satellite maps of the Sunderbans for better monitoring of the creeks and uninhabited islands. A Rs 20-crore project has also been taken to set up a centre in Kolkata that will monitor the fishing fleet entering the Hooghly through transponders installed in the trawlers and boats.
"Monitoring activity in the Sunderbans is a complex affair. The islands are largely unmapped and the land masses are non-permanent in nature, changing with shifts in the course of the rivers. A lot of fishermen cross over from Bangladesh, Myanmar and also Sri Lanka. Our focus is on infiltration from the sea. We hold coordinated exercises with all agencies involved for this purpose. Now, we have managed to set up an effective communications network between all agencies. We have also succeeded in our coastal security awareness campaigns in which the population living along the coast is asked to convey information of any suspicious movement," Thomas said.
The Navy was very concerned with the route taken by vessels from Bangladesh under the Indo-Bangladesh Trade Protocol. Till recently, the vessels would traverse nearly 160 km from Beharikhal to Namkhana through the Sunderbans without any customs or immigration checks. From June this year, the route has changed and the vessels skirt the Sunderbans and undergo customs and immigration checks at Hemnagar. According to the NOIC, better monitoring of the vessels is now possible.
While nearly 90% of fishing boats operating in the Sunderbans and the Hooghly have already been registered, the Navy wants fishermen to have biometric ID cards. The boats should also have colour codes, depending on the state to which they belong. The colour orange has been chosen for West Bengal. The Navy also wants customs and immigration checks to be carried out on all vessels before they enter the Hooghly. Haldia will also get a Forward Operating Base for better monitoring of activities in the area.
"There are nearly 540 islands in the Sunderbans, most of them uninhabited. There is constant movement of people from Bangladesh. Of the six marine police stations that were to come up in the state in Phase-I, three are already operational. The remaining three are facing some problems over the use of forest land. We have already agreed to provide training - both basic and advanced - to the state police personnel who will man these police stations," Thomas said.
Navy to station UAVs at Behala airfield Sagar to get missiles - The Times of India
Missile in Sagar Island will add to teeth to the defence system of the ENC.
