State govt spent Rs 24 cr on useless patrol boats

Gandhinagar: There is nothing new about state government announcing a three-layer ring to secure Gujarat's 1,600-km-long coastline following the Mumbai terror attacks.
This plan has been there since the Gosabara arms landing case of 1993. But the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in 2005-06 severely indicted the state home department for putting security at peril and causing unfruitful expenditure' of Rs 24.61 crore in procurement of low-powered boats for patrolling .
As against the required boats having 250 horse power capacity for a speed of 10 to 12 knots, boats of 88 to 105 horse power which could reach a speed of 8 to 10 knots, were hired.
When this was pointed out by CAG, the superintendent of police concerned did not give any remarks. The state government in its reply of September 2006 said that as "the activity was preventive in nature and could help indirectly in curbing and controlling crime and therefore the expenditure cannot be treated as unfruitful"!
CAG held this reply as "untenable" as the state intelligence bureau had itself in its five-year perspective plan on coastal security noted that the "slow speed, badly equipped fishing trawlers could not cope with the speed boats used by criminals and anti-nationals". Hence the patrolling done was totally ineffective and expense on this exercise was unproductive.
In August 1993, a committee of state and Union government officers had decided to hire boats of 250 horse power capacity for a speed of 10 to 12 knots to meet the immediate demand for the 13 shore points identified from where patrolling was to be organised.
But CAG found from the records that two fishing boats each with one reserve trawler of 88 to 105 horse power which could reach a speed of 8 to 10 knots were hired for these 13 points.
After the Mumbai serial bomb-blasts of March 1993, explosives for which were smuggled through sea-route, the central government decided to undertake joint coastal patrolling in Gujarat's territorial waters and coastline. This was to curb infiltration of enemy and terror operatives, and to prevent smuggling of sophisticated arms and explosives across the border specifically through sea-route. Obviously, this plan didn't work and Mumbai was attacked again.
In 1993 it was felt that having a dedicated fleet of trawlers for joint coastal patrolling was genuinely meaningful. For this, the Centre was to reimburse the state government for any expenses incurred.
From 1993 to 2005, government of India reimbursed the state government's bill of Rs 24.61 crore for procurement of fishing boats for coastal patrolling, which CAG termed as "unfruitful".