Radars may soon monitor ship movements in Kutch

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR, SEPT. 9. Concerned over Pakistani infiltration and to check smuggling in the vast Kutch-Saurashtra coast in Gujarat, the Union Surface Transport Ministry has prepared a Rs. 165 crore project network of radar stations to monitor ship movements in the Gulf of Kutch.

Under the project, awaiting clearance from the Union Cabinet, nine radar stations linked by a series of microwave towers from Koteshwar to Okha will be located in major ports such as Kandla, Sikka, Bedi, Mundra, Jakhau and Navalakhi. The radars will have the capacity to scan all ship movements up to 50 km in the high seas.

The central-sector Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and the State-owned Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) will share 50 per cent of the cost of the project, with the rest coming from the Directorate General of the Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), which will also coordinate the project. KPT and GMB have already sanctioned Rs. 42 crores each for the project.

The Union Cabinet is expected to take up the project for consideration immediately after the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, returns from the U.S. The project wil be completed inthree years.

The Gujarat Governor, Mr. Sunder Singh Bhandari, was briefed about the project, named the Vessel Traffic System.He was told the radars werenecessary because of the sharp rise in sea traffic in the region.

According to a GMB spokesman, the project was given the final shape at the July 27 meeting of the Centre-State committee, which comprised the office of the DGLL, hydrographers from Dehradun and New Delhi, Secretaries to the Union Surface Transport, Electronics and Defence departments, the KPT chairman and the GMB chief executive.

Besides checking Pakistan-sponsored smuggling, the authorities are also concerned over a surprise attack by Pakistan

since Karachi, its major naval base, is less than 50 km from the Kutch coast.

An additional benefit is that the project would be able to monitor oil spills from pipelines passing through the fragile Marine National Park.

Pak. nationals held

In a joint operation, the Kutch and the Mumbai police arrested two Pakistani nationals wanted for smuggling RDX into the country. The arrests of Salim and Guddu earlier this week is considered a major breakthrough and could lead to the arrest of several ISI operatives in the country.

An official spokesman said that in June, the Kutch police had seized 24 kg of RDX, 58 small weapons, sophisticated wireless sets and timing devices similar to those used in the Mumbai serial blasts, as well as remote controls and counterfeit Indian currency. Six persons were held for smuggling the goods on a small boat via a creek in the Gulf of Kutch.

A telephone diary, which was found on one of the smugglers, contained some Mumbai phone numbers. With the help of the Mumbai police, the numbers were monitored, which led to the arrests of Salim and Guddu.

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