Gujarat Marine Police was set up for peacetime patrol of the state's coastline including coastal area and inshore sea due to the proximity to the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

border as well as the presence of important structures like petroleum refinery. It has been envisaged as the first line of defence along

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

's coastline to patrol a radius of 10 km from the shore. Thereafter, the

Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. The Indian Coast Guard was formally esta ...

is responsible for the area, with the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

guarding the area beyond that. Currently, this area is secured by the Indian Coast Guard.

History

Based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, the Coastal Security Scheme Phase-1 was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in January 2005 for implementation over five years starting from 2005-06. Thereafter Gujarat Marine Police was inaugurated in November 2006 with the centre and the state sharing the cost on a 50:50 basis as per Coastal Security Scheme. The first phase of Coastal Security Scheme consisting of setting up ten stations including those at Bhadreshwar ( Bhuj), Bhatiya (

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city located on the western coast of India in the state of Gujarat of Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra region. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jamnagar district and the fifth largest city in Gujarat. The city lies ...

), Harshadmata (Jamnagar), Bedi (Jamnagar), Nawabandar (Jamnagar) Bhavnagar (

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...

), Somnath ( Junagadh),

Pipavav Pipavav is located at latitude 20°54'N and longitude 71°30'E on the coast of Gujarat, India. By road it is 2 hours (85 km) from Amreli, 30 minutes (20 km) from Rajula city, 2.5 hours (130 km) from Bhavnagar on the east and 1. ...

( Amreli), Porbandar(

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

), Hazira (

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

) 25 check posts, 46 outpost and the procurement of 30 boats GSL Interceptor Speed Boat have already been completed. The Phase two consisting of expansion and strengthening with additional 31 patrol boats, 1,000 trained police officers (including 900 constabulary and 100 police officers) and 12 marine police stations is currently under progress as on 2012. Presently personnel are drawn from police in state. The Indian Coast Guard provide training to them, usually of 15 days. This practice may be discontinued. In future Gujarat marine police may directly recruit specially trained personnel. A marine police academy is also being proposed for future recruitment.

Gujarat Marine State Reserve Police

The Gujarat state is also raising a Gujarat Marine State Reserve Police (SRP) that will get into act in case of emergency, particularly when the Marine police is busy patrolling in the sea. The eight groups of Marine SRP are going to be headed by a DIG rank officer, who will be holding a post of marine task force commander. He will be assisted by a superintendent of police whose post is marine sector commander followed by deputies called marine sector leaders. Below them are eight police inspectors, each heading the groups. Each group will consist of five units, which will be headed by an officer of police sub-inspector rank. There will be 42 head constables and 276 constables working as marine commandos.

References

* * * * *{{cite web , last=Das , first=Pushpita , url=http://kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/136655/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/8145bf0f-b181-489f-ba6e-645105477d94/en/OP_CoastalSecurityArrangement.pdf , title=Coastal Security Arrangement: A Case Study of Gujarat and Maharashtra Coasts , publisher=Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses , date=November 2009 , access-date=15 March 2012 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000932/http://kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/136655/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/8145bf0f-b181-489f-ba6e-645105477d94/en/OP_CoastalSecurityArrangement.pdf , archive-date=4 March 2016 , url-status=dead Specialist law enforcement agencies of India Government of Gujarat Maritime security of India Maritime law enforcement agencies

History

Gujarat Marine State Reserve Police

See also

References