Coast Guard

Lakshadweep: Chartered Flights for Administrator Patel, Job and Welfare Cuts for Locals

According to locals, Praful Patel’s travel bill has crossed Rs 90 lakh, almost five times the Union Territory’s budgeted money for domestic travel expenses.

Bengaluru: On June 14, administrator Praful Patel arrived in Lakshadweep.

In the background of a photo clicked shortly afterwards stood the Coast Guard plane, CG 789, he flew over in.

Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel arrives in Agatti island for a week-long visit. @NewIndianXpress #Lakshadweep pic.twitter.com/V4gv6KhJtk

— TNIE Kerala (@xpresskerala) June 14, 2021

This choice needs to be understood.

The Union Territory is connected by air to Kochi. Even at short notice, a two-way flight ticket from Daman to coral-fringed Lakshadweep costs about Rs 30,000. In contrast, Patel’s flight might have cost Lakshadweep as much as Rs 23 lakh.

According to a PTI report, Patel had at least one reason to avoid Kochi. “Anticipating that the administrator would be travelling via Kochi to Lakshadweep, two Congress MPs from Kerala T.N. Prathapan and Hibi Eden had gone to the Kochi international airport to meet Patel to convey their protest against what they called as anti-people reforms measures on the islands. It did not materialise as Patel reportedly opted for the Goa route to go to [the] islands.”

The Wire sent questions to Patel, his personal secretary A. Anbarasu, Lakshadweep collector Asker Ali and Sushil Singh, the bureaucrat in charge of Information, Food & Civil Supplies and Labour, asking why he had taken the Coast Guard plane. They did not respond.

Why the decision matters

The charter was, at the very least, the second time Patel has taken a Coast Guard plane to Agatti.

On February 21 as well, the administrator had taken a Coast Guard Dornier from Daman to Agatti and then back again. The bill came to Rs 23.21 lakhs.

Order sanctioning the payment of Rs 23.21 lakh for Patel’s Coast Guard Dornier flight from Daman to Agatti and then back again.

There are other trips, an islander in Kavaratti, the UT’s administrative centre, told The Wire on the condition of anonymity.

According to him, Patel’s travel expenditure has “crossed Rs 90 lakh”. In our questionnaire, The Wire asked Patel – and the officials named above – for the number of flights he has taken to the islands, and an estimate on the expenditure incurred till now.

These are important questions. In Lakshadweep’s Demand for Grants (2021-22), a sum of Rs 20 lakh had been earmarked for “domestic travel expenses” by the governor/administrator of the islands.

Lakshadweep’s demand for grants.

In February, as the letter above shows, Lakshadweep paid for Patel’s trip on CG789 by dipping into allocations like secretariat general services and other administrative expenses (OAE).

There are three issues here. First, according to the islander, the OAE fund is running low as well. If this runs out, will the budgets of other functions be reappropriated next?

Second, it’s not clear if the administration has the power to redeploy funds. “Budget allocations for Union Territories – which do not have their own assemblies – are done by parliament,” said a former finance secretary. “It’s possible to take money from another head but it would still require the approval of parliament. If they have not done so, the CAG [Comptroller and Auditor General] might ask for this money to be recovered.”

The Wire asked Patel and his officials if they can use OAE funds for travel expenditure. There was no response.

Third, this increase in spending on the administrator comes at a time when he is cutting back on state expenditure on jobs and welfare.

No rules for the ruler

On May 24, his administration tightened the norms for medical evacuation.

Order tightening rules for medical evacuation.

A four-member committee, said the administration, would now “scrutinise all the relevant documents submitted online by the medical officer in-charge in the respective islands along with the specialist concerned and recommend the evacuations case by case”.

This notification – issued while Lakshadweep was in the throes of COVID-19 – didn’t contain an explanation. Nor did it stipulate a time period in which applications would be processed.

“Medical emergencies till now have been dealt with very humanely,” said a person working on the islands. “If a person needs emergency medical help, three choppers were kept for it. Even the Administrator’s chopper has been used for emergencies in the past.”

The new system makes it harder for people to access these, she said. “Internet connectivity is poor on the islands. And now, this administration wants a request over email for medical evacuation by chopper. Then, four people will evaluate the situation. And only then will (patients) get the facility.”

In tandem, the administration has axed jobs. In February, in the days after the flight for which Lakshadweep had to pay Rs 23 lakh, Patel’s administration fired 193 workers from the tourism department and another 103 from the mid-day meal programme. The agriculture department saw lay-offs as well. So did other departments. Among those who lost their jobs, as The News Minute reported, were “30 contract surveyors in the Revenue Department and scores of others from the Women and Child Development Department and Health Department.” More lay-offs are expected.

Others have been told to stop coming to work without a clear explanation on when work will resume. In May, 200 members of an anti-poaching squad called marine watchers were disengaged pending further notice. Employed with the environment department, they were paid Rs 15,000 a month. That works out to a monthly outlay of Rs 30 lakh on salaries – and goes into protecting the local marine ecosystem, which supports most local livelihoods.

The administration, however, considers these functions dispensable but views a chartered flight as essential.

It’s a telling choice.

What we see is an extraordinary impunity. Not only is Praful Patel’s administration not bound by the rules it makes for the locals – we also saw this in his refusal to quarantine as per local COVID-19 guidelines – it is also unaffected by Central government dictats.

On June 10, four days before Patel took his flight, Nirmala Sitharaman’s finance ministry sent out a letter to all ministries and departments, asking them to “curb wasteful/avoidable expenditure” and “cut controllable expenditure” by a fifth. One of the suggested areas for economising?

Domestic travel expenses.

Finance ministry circular on avoidable expenditure by The Wire on Scribd

M. Rajshekhar is an independent reporter studying corruption, oligarchy and the political economy of India’s environment. He is also the author of Despite the State: Why India Lets Its People Down and How They Cope.

Total Recall: Ten Things That Went Wrong During the 26/11 Attacks

Intelligence inputs were not acted upon, terrorists’ unsuccessful attempts to enter Mumbai were not detected and there was a delay in sending in NSG commandoes.

Note: This article was originally published on November 26, 2018 and was republished on November 26, 2021.

Looking back at the 26/11 Mumbai attacks with the benefit of hindsight, the missed opportunities to both prevent the attacks and minimise their impact are clear. The Wire brings you a list of things that went wrong, or could have been done differently.

1. Slip up on intelligence inputs

In the two years preceding the attacks, American-born Pakistani terrorist David Richard Headley visited India five times to identify the targets. He had three wives, two of whom had told US authorities of his terror associations. In 2005, an American woman married to him told federal investigators in the US that she believed he was a member of the Lashkar-e-Tayyabba. Two years later, his Moroccan wife warned American authorities in Pakistan that he was plotting an attack.

The Central Intelligence Agency tipped India off about the possibility of a major terrorist attack on Mumbai. There were some 26 alerts in all. The inputs revealed that an attack may take place through the sea route, and five-star hotels in Mumbai may be targeted. The Research and Analysis Wing and Intelligence Bureau were unable to prevent the strikes.

2. Presence of mole went undetected

The Siege, a book by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, claims that Headley revealed that his handler, Major Iqbal of the Inter-Services Intelligence, once boasted about having a “super agent” known as ‘Honey Bee’ in New Delhi.

This mole reportedly helped the terror group identify a South Mumbai fishing colony, Badhwar Park, as a suitable landing site for the terrorists. ‘Honey Bee’ has still not been identified.

Read: What the Maharashtra Government Promised to Do Based on 26/11 Inquiry

3. Two failed attempts to enter Mumbai went undetected

While testifying before a Mumbai court over video in 2016, Headley said that there were two failed attempts to attack the city before 26/11 by the same 10 terrorists. The first attempt was made on September 8, but the boat hit rocks in the ocean and sank. The weapons and explosives were lost, but those on board survived. Another attempt was made in October, but failed.

4. Fishermen reported presence, police was slow to respond

Some fishermen and shopkeepers who were suspicious of the strangers who docked at Colaba on November 26, 2008 questioned them, but were told, “mind your own business”. They reported the presence of these men to the police, but there was no immediate action. Even earlier, a fisherman had written to the police about the possibility of terrorists bringing explosives from the sea but was ignored.

Also read: On the Anniversary of 26/11, India Needs to See Beyond the US Model of Counter-Terrorism

5. Terrorists were better equipped

While the attackers passed by a police station, they did not face any resistance as the police realised that they were outgunned. The police switched off the lights and closed the gates.

Armed with Arges hand grenades, automatic assault rifles and improvised explosive devices, the well-trained terrorists had an upper hand over the local police, who were taken by surprise.

Also read: Full Text: What the High Level Inquiry Committee on the 26/11 Attacks Had to Say

6. Delay in deeming it a terror strike

Despite a number of public places being targeted, many being killed and the media telecasting the attacks, the police agencies and administration took a long time to identify what was happening as a terror attack. Initially, they thought it to be an underworld gang war.

A review of the happenings revealed that it was past midnight – and three hours after the terror strikes began – that the then Maharashtra chief minister urged the Centre to send in the National Security Guard (NSG) team.

7. NSG, marine commandoes took very long to arrive

Though Mumbai had witnessed several terrorist acts before, there was no NSG centre close by. Commandoes had to be flown in from Manesar in Haryana. When NSG chief J.K. Dutt asked for a plane, he was told that the transport aircraft was in Chandigarh. Finally, R&AW intervened and provide an Ilyushin 76 parked at Palam airstrip to rush the commando unit to Mumbai.

However, this was a smaller aircraft and could only transport 120 troops. This meant that transporting the full team required three trips. Refuelling the aircraft and finding crew members also took away precious time, and the aircraft took off a good two hours after the request was made. The aircraft then took nearly three hours to reach Mumbai.

In order to counter the four terrorists in the Taj Mahal hotel, marine commandoes were summoned. But they too reached three hours after the attack began. As the local police was also not rushed in large numbers, they failed to contain the heavily armed attackers to a limited area.

8. Pakistani handlers benefited from media coverage

With TV news channels providing live coverage of the attacks, rescue operations were hampered. Pakistani handlers of the terrorists reportedly told them about the presence of dignitaries in the hotels as well as the impending security operations.

Also read: Photo Essay: Maximum Terror, and How a Fallible City Stood Strong

It was on November 28 that the media was directed to only show “deferred” footage. Before there, no protocol had been put in place on how the emergency situation should be covered.

9. Terrorists knew much more about the buildings under attack than the NSG

When the NSG reached Mumbai on November 27 morning, it did not have access to detailed layouts or maps of the buildings under attack. On the other hand, due to the recon done by Headley, the terrorists had this information. At the Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House, the NSG commandos fought with a major handicap.

10. NSG not given intercepted conversations

Though the Anti-Terror Squad of the Mumbai police recorded conversations between the terrorists and their handlers, these were not passed on quickly to the NSG. In addition, the terrorists’ plan to execute the hostages at Nariman House was not conveyed to the commandoes.

US Government Agencies Gear up to Restart Operations Monday

The partial government shutdown – at 35 days the longest in US history – led to some 800,000 federal workers going unpaid, including 380,000 furloughed workers.

Washington: US government agencies that had largely shuttered operations for five weeks during a budget standoff said on Saturday they were moving swiftly to resume operations and compensate employees for missed paychecks.

The White House held a conference call with Cabinet department financial officers late Friday to discuss the resumption of government operations, while agencies began to grapple with a backlog of management and policy issues.

The partial government shutdown – at 35 days the longest in US history – led to some 800,000 federal workers going unpaid, including 380,000 furloughed workers.

President Donald Trump on Friday signed a measure to fund the government for three weeks as congressional negotiators try to hammer out a bill to fund the federal government through Sept. 30. Trump had demanded $5.7 billion in funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border, but Democratic legislators refused to include the money.

The White House Office of Management and Budget’s acting chief, Russell Vought, told agencies in a memo to reopen “in a prompt and orderly manner”.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote Saturday on Twitter that the agency would send back pay to staffers no later than Thursday.

Gottlieb told employees the FDA would hold an all-hands meeting on Tuesday. “There will be impacts from this prolonged lapse in funding,” he wrote. “But this agency has always faced challenge.”

The Coast Guard told personnel it was “working through the weekend to process your pay as quickly as possible” and said back pay should be received by Thursday.

Also read: US Govt Shutdown Set to Drag on as Trump, Democrats Don’t Budge

Federal workers are owed about $6 billion in back pay, according to a study released last week.

It will take agencies days to dig out from weeks of unread emails and deal with other logistical issues like expired email passwords or ID badges, agency officials said. Furloughed workers were told not to read emails or answer phone calls while off duty.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) asked employees for “patience and attention, especially during the first 48 hours,” noting that the vast majority of employees’ laptops and smartphones have been inactive for more than a month and have not had “critical, regularly scheduled maintenance”.

During the shutdown, some government agencies did not complete contracts for grants, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stopped reviewing and making public new auto safety recalls, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stopped certifying some new aircraft and routes.

The Smithsonian Institution said museums in Washington and the National Zoo will reopen on Tuesday. In Philadelphia, Independence National Historical Park – which includes a centre that houses the Liberty Bell, a symbol of American independence – reopened on Saturday. Other sites are reopening on Sunday, including Ford’s Theatre in Washington.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton said on Saturday in a statement that the agency is “continuing to assess how to most effectively transition to normal operations.”

He said some SEC units, including those devoted to corporate finance, trading and markets, and investment management and the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, “will be publishing statements in the coming days regarding their transition plans.”

The SEC has been unable to approve initial public offerings during the shutdown, and some analysts had suggested the issue could delay IPOs in 2019.

Also Read: With No Deal, US Government Shutdown Likely to Drag on Past Christmas

It will take the Federal Register, which publishes government regulatory actions, weeks to catch up with the backlog of documents, which will delay the start of public comments on some proposals.

The shutdown is also likely to delay the rollout of Trump’s 2020 budget proposal and congressional hearings on the budget. It is not clear when Trump will deliver his State of the Union Address, but one administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Saturday it is not likely to be until February.

(Reuters)

The Two Accused in 26/11 Mumbai Attack Who Never Were

Faheem Ansar and Sabahuddin Ahmed were arrested for allegedly providing a base for the attackers. In spite of being acquitted in 2013, both continue to languish in prison.

Mumbai: On November 26, 2008, ten members of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, an Islamic terrorist organisation based in Pakistan, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks that lasted for four days across Mumbai. This attack left 166 – including civilians and police officers – dead and scores severely incapacitated. But beyond these ten terrorists and their victims, there were also two young Indian Muslims who were falsely charged and thrown before the judiciary and media as the “local faces” of one of the deadliest terror attacks in the country.

Faheem Ansari, a resident of Goregaon area in the western suburbs of Mumbai, and Sabahuddin Ahmed, from Bihar, were arrested for allegedly providing a base for the 26/11 attackers, including Ajmal Kasab. But by the time they were acquitted by the Supreme Court in August 2013, Ansari’s wife Yasmin says, the worst had already hit the family.

“My normal, healthy family life was shredded into pieces overnight. My child was rendered “fatherless”. From being a regular worker at his brother’s paper workshop, Faheem was tagged along with the most dreaded terrorists of Pakistan,” Yasmin recalls.

Faheem’s nightmare actually began in February 2008, ten months before the November 26 Mumbai attack. He, along with Ahmed and six others was picked up for his alleged role in another attack on the CRPF base in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur which left eight people dead.

Also read: Total Recall: Ten Things That Went Wrong During the 26/11 Attacks

Yasmin claims that these charges were false as well. Ansari, after his brother’s business began slowing down, had decided to start his own. “We thought he could get fabrics from UP and sell it in Mumbai. I still remember he had left for UP with some money to set up his small business here. He never returned home,” she recalls.

While the trial in the Mumbai terror attack case has been disposed and Ansari and Ahmed have already been acquitted, the Rampur case is still pending. Yasmin says that in the past 11 years, several judges have changed in the Rampur case and the trial has almost been concluded; it is awaiting judgement. “Evidence has already been recorded, but the judge was transferred last year for the fifth or the sixth time, I don’t remember. And since then, Faheem and others are waiting for a new judge to be appointed so that a verdict is passed,” she told The Wire.

Faheem was booked in the Rampur firing case in February 2008 and Yasmin says the family was informed almost a month later. “We had no idea what was happening. We haven’t had any interaction with the police or lawyers before that point. By the time the family could muster the courage and raise funds to travel to UP, it was already four months”.

Faheem Ansari being arrested by Mumbai police. Credit: PTI

Yasmin says in those eight months between February and November, she met her husband only once at the Bareilly prison and then directly when he was shown arrested in the Mumbai terror case.

According to the Mumbai police’s crime branch, which was desperate to show local links to the attack, Ansari and Ahmed had reconnoitred months in advance and had prepared maps that were handed over to each group of gunmen. These maps, according to the prosecution, had depicted the route from areas like Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to other locations like Malabar Hill in south Mumbai, where the state chief minister’s residence is located.

This claim was, however, rubbished by the sessions judge M.L. Tahiliyani, who had presided over the trial. The court observed that there was no need for the gunmen to rely on hand-drawn maps when there was far better technology available on the internet.

“This also does not appeal to reason – particularly when better-coloured maps can be downloaded and prints can be taken out from various websites like Google Earth and Wiki Mapia…”

“On the contrary, almost all the pieces of evidence to connect the accused [Ansari] and [Ahmed] with the alleged offences are found to be doubtful and tainted…” These were some of the crucial observations made by the trial court while acquitting the duo. These observations were later upheld, both in the high court and the Supreme Court when the state appealed against the acquittal.

The acquittal, however, Yasmin says, means nothing to her family. As soon as he was given a clean chit by the Supreme Court, Ansari was moved back to UP in 2013. And since then, the couple has managed to meet only two or three times. “We have no one there [In UP]. Travelling to UP means raising funds for travel and also our stay there. It gets cumbersome”.

So now, the couple stays in touch with each other through letters. “He would write letter after letter to me describing his life inside the prison. Those letters which have messages for the family, about how he missed us and how he would feel desperate to be released from prison. Those letters would just break my heart each time”.

One of the letters written by Faheem Ansari to his wife Yasmin from Bareilly prison. Credit: Sukanya Shantha

She adds, the frequency of Ansari’s letters has slowly reduced and now he sticks to information pertaining to just his trial. “Now he only writes to me about the case and what he expects of the lawyers. Nothing more. Maybe this prolonged stay in the prison has taken a toll on him emotionally,” she wonders, sitting at her residence in Mumbra, in the suburbs of Thane district, 30 kms from Mumbai.

Yasmin says at least Faheem has his family to worry for him and provide him emotional support, but in Ahmed’s case, no one from his family came forward. “Maybe they were too scared. We have not heard [from] of any of his family members or relatives in the past 11 years. We first got to know that someone called Sabahuddin from Bihar was also arrested along with Faheem in the Mumbai and Rampur cases. We know nothing more about him”.

Hemant Karkare had given Faheem a ‘clean chit’

Like in the Mumbai case, she claims, in the Rampur case too, her husband would have received a clean-chit if the then ATS chief Hemant Karkare was alive. Soon after the arrest, Karkare had asked his officers to look into Ansari’s criminal antecedents in the state. He had concluded Ansari had no role in any criminal activities in the state and had indicated that his UP arrest could be baseless too.

“But before we could find a way to take Kakare sahab’s help, he got killed in the Mumbai terror attack,” Yasmin claims. Karkare was the chief of Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorist Squad and was killed in action during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He was handling some high-profile cases like the Malegaon blasts of 2006 and 2008 at the time of his death. Karkare’s presence, she says, would have also ensured that Faheem and Sabahuddin would not have had to endure false charges in the Mumbai terror attack.

Also read: 26/11 and the Media: Where Were the Protocols?

The arrest changed it all

Ansari’s family, which had once lived in Mumbai’s suburbs, had to move into a smaller house in a Muslim locality in Mumbra post his arrest. “Faheem’s arrest had a direct impact on the family business. He was handling their paper bag-making business. Once he got arrested, and I and his brothers began chasing lawyers and shuttling between UP and Mumbai, the business took a beating. It was eventually shut down”.

Faheem Ansari after his acquittal. Credit: PTI

In Faheem’s absence, Yasmin, who had studied until Class 10, took up tailoring. “I, along with my sister-in-law have been carrying out the tailoring work. It is enough to take care of me and my daughter,” she says.

Their daughter Iqra was only five at the time of the first arrest. Yasmin says Iqra has no happy memory of her childhood. “She only remembers seeing her father in jail on one or two occasions. I wish we would soon start afresh and Iqra has better memories to hold on to,” says Yasmin.

Iqra is now in Class 11 and is studying in a college in Mumbai. The mother-daughter duo shifted to Mumbai – closer to her college – a few months ago. “I wanted to ensure my daughter feels safe and has a conducive environment to study. I could not provide her anything else. I wanted to ensure at least her education isn’t compromised”.

Ten Years After 26/11, Coastal Police Stations Are Still a Weak Link

Just as 26/11 highlighted the chinks in India’s maritime intelligence, the killing of an American in the Andamans has once again put the spotlight on the glaring gaps in India’s coastal policing abilities.

In November 2008, a small vessel sailed the Arabian Sea undetected and slipped into Mumbai near Badhwar Park, which falls under the jurisdiction of the local Cuffe Parade police station. The terrorists who disembarked carried out a series of audacious attacks, on what is now referred to as 26/11, an event that exposed the enormity of India’s maritime and coastal vulnerability.

Fast forward to November 2018. In a similar manner, a fishing vessel breached surveillance cordons in the Andaman sea and enabled a US tourist to land on the North Sentinel island – an island that is totally out of bounds to all visitors. This exclusive zone has been put in place to ensure the safety of the Sentinelese people, who are deemed to be the last pre-Neolitihic tribe on the planet. The tourist-preacher slipped through the surveillance protocols by paying a sum of money, but was shot dead with arrows by the Sentinelese.

Read: What the Maharashtra Government Promised to Do Based on 26/11 Inquiry

In both cases, local police lacked the capacity and the intelligence inputs to pre-empt what followed. This draws attention to an abiding challenge for India’s maritime security – the efficacy of the coastal police station (CSP).

India has a long coastline of 7,510 km, spread across nine coastal states and four Union Territories (UT). The responsibility for maritime security devolves upon three principal agencies – the Indian navy; the Indian Coast Guard (ICG); and local state/UT police. After 26/11, it was acknowledged that two agencies – namely the ICG and the state police – needed a much greater infusion of resources, and numerous policy initiatives were launched.

Also read: Centre Ignored ST Panel Advice on Protecting Vulnerable Andaman Tribes

While the navy has overall responsibility for national maritime security, including coastal and off-shore assets, the ICG has been designated as the nodal authority for coastal security in territorial waters (12 nautical miles), including those areas patrolled by the state coastal police.

The ICG, which is the fourth armed force of the country, had 65 vessels and 45 aircraft in 2008. Ambitious plans were drawn up to enhance the platform inventory. In the last decade, the ICG has visibly increased its surveillance footprint and the detection-apprehending rate of suspicious vessels.

This is a sector where there has been tangible enhancement of capacity and efficacy after 26/11. It is expected that by 2023 (15 years after 26/11), the ICG will have 190 vessels and a 100 aircraft, thereby allowing it a much higher level of surveillance and boarding/inspection capability.

Also read: On the Anniversary of 26/11, India Needs to See Beyond the US Model of Counter-Terrorism

The same cannot be said of coastal policing by individual states and UTs a decade after November 2008.

After 26/11, a sum of Rs 2,225 crore was allocated to improve the capability of coastal policing, part of a comprehensive coastal security scheme to be implemented in two phases (till end March 2020).

Accordingly, a total of 131 additional CPS have been sanctioned – bringing the total to 183 – but progress has been uneven. Some states, like Tamil Nadu, have demonstrated commendable resolve in investing appropriate HR and infrastructure into their CSPs. Others remain indifferent to this aspect of policing.

Mumbai in particular receives annual media attention in the run-up to 26/11 and over the last few years, some very embarrassing details have surfaced. Some years ago a media team carried out the equivalent of a sting operation and demonstrated on camera the sorry state of the new coastal police stations along the Mumbai coast, and the relative ease with which contraband goods could be brought ashore without detection.

Also read: Full Text: What the High Level Inquiry Committee on the 26/11 Attacks Had to Say

This year has again revealed the poor state of the three major CSPs of Mumbai and the equipment/platforms provided to them. Cars are reported to have broken down and the boats have no fuel. To compound this deplorable state of affairs, the personnel manning these CSPs are not suitably qualified and their officers are far from motivated.

Coastal security in India is a multi-layered responsibility and challenge, which needs seamless and swift inter-agency coordination. While the navy and the Coast Guard operate under central government direction, the CSP comes under the purview of the state/UT.

Intelligence inputs have to be monitored and analysed 24×7 and transmuted into ‘actionable intel’ so as to pre-empt the undesirable exigency. Professional ineptitude and institutional turpitude were more than evident in the David Headley case that contributed in no small measure to the scale of 26/11.

In the Andaman and Nicobar UT, a similar pattern was apparent: Central and local intelligence and police agencies were unable to monitor and prevent John Allen Chau from reaching an island totally forbidden to visitors.

The adage that a chain is as strong as its weakest link is more than applicable when it comes to India’s coastal security and the efficacy index of the coastal police station. Ten years after 26/11 it is difficult to be sanguine about India’s comprehensive maritime security.

Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar is Director Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi.

Over 10,000 People Along Periyar River Moved to Relief Camps

Officials have moved 10,000 people living on the banks of Periyar river and its tributaries to 78 camps opened in Ernakulam district.

Kochi: Over 10,000 people living on the banks of Periyar river and its tributaries have been shifted to 78 camps opened in Ernakulam district as part of measures taken by it to deal with the threats following release of water from two major dams.

Officials said 10,510 people have been provided shelter at 78 relief camps opened in Paravoor, Aluva, Kanayannur and Kunnathunad taluks in the district.

The district authorities said they have made all necessary preparations for providing food, drinking water and medical facilities to the people shifted in the camps.

People said rise in water level in Periyar river has affected their normal life.

Meanwhile, braving adverse weather conditions, thousands of pilgrims thronged on the bank of Periyar river in Aluva to perform ‘Karkkidaka Vavu Bali’ at a Lord Shiva temple known for the annual ritual.

The temple situated in the middle of the river remained submerged in gushing waters.

Ernakulam district administration officials said elaborate arrangements were made by the government and temple administration in the unaffected areas on the river bank for the people to perform the ‘Vavu Bali’, a ritual, performed for the departed souls of their ancestors.

Security was tightened along the shore of the river for ensuring safety of the pilgrims.

Coast Guard and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to ensure safety and security of the pilgrims.

Police and Fire and Rescue services personnel were also roped in to provide security.

Three boats, 20 lifeboats, 40 life-jackets, special ropes and diving teams were were kept ready to meet any eventuality, authorities said.

ISRO Postpones Scramjet Test to Help Find Missing Air Force Plane

A new date has not been finalised for the scramjet engine test after ISRO decided the search took precedence over the experimental mission.

The RH-560 sounding rocket during a test in March 2010. Source: ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation has put off testing a new kind of engine it built in July after an AN-32 plane, of the Indian Air Force, disappeared over the Bay of Bengal on July 22 with 29 onboard. The Air Force has sought ISRO’s assistance in tracking the plane down.

ISRO had planned to test its indigenous scramjet engine this month. The engine will eventually power the organisation’s reusable launch vehicle, expected to be ready in 2030. The test was going to see the engine, fit on a modified RH-560 sounding rocket and lifted to 70 km, fire for five seconds while travelling at Mach 6 (2 km/s). A scramjet engine ‘inhales’ the oxygen it needs to burn the fuel from the atmosphere, sparing the carrier vehicle the need to carry oxidisers and relieving additional payload space. The entire test was planned to span 260 seconds.

However, it was called off because the Air Force sought ISRO’s assistance in tracking the plane, after it went off the radar while en route to Port Blair from Chennai on July 22. Thirteen vessels of the Navy and two of the Coast Guard, apart from some others by the Air Force, have been deployed for the search. Satellite images are being sourced from ISRO while personnel from the National Institute of Ocean Technology are also helping zero in on the plane.

The New Indian Express reported K. Sivan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thumba, as acknowledging that the search took precedence over the experimental mission. He added that a new date for the scramjet engine test hadn’t yet been finalised either.

Italy’s Coast Guard Says over 1,300 Migrants Rescued at Sea

Italy is on the front line of Europe’s immigration crisis, which is now in its third year.

Credit: Reuters

Milan: Italy‘s coast guard on June 11 said it had picked up 1,348 migrants in 11 rescue operations at sea between Sicily and North Africa, bringing the total number of people saved over the past three days to more than 3,000.

Two thousand people were rescued on June 9 when the coast guard coordinated operations involving migrants travelling on 15 different boats.

Italy is on the front line of Europe’s immigration crisis, which is now in its third year. Almost 50,000 migrants have come ashore in Italy this year, about 10% less than the same period last year, according to the interior ministry.

(Reuters)

How Delayed Decisions, Poor Coordination Did Chennai In

Given just a few hours to warn residents of the impending flood, the authorities struggled to save Chennai.

Given just a few hours to alert residents of impending floods, state authorities struggled to save Chennai from a flood created by itself

People rescue from their water-lodged houses during heavy rains in Chennai on Wednesday. Credit: PTI

People bring rescued from their water-logged houses during heavy rains in Chennai on Wednesday. Credit: PTI

Chennai: At around 4 pm on the 1st of December, in the midst of heavy rainfall, businessman Ekambaram Goda’s household help informed his wife that the police had asked residents of a slum near Burma Colony to vacate their homes. “She told us that the police had said the river could rise to seven feet,” said Goda, 54, resident of Defence Colony, an expensive residential area on the banks of the Adyar river. “No one came and told us anything, so we thought it was a rumour.”

The Goda family suffered a power cut around 6 pm the same day and decided to head to bed by 8 pm. By 3 am, they woke up to water rising inside their bungalow. By 10.30 am, they were on their terrace, with 12 feet of water all around them. The Godas were rescued by Army boats 36 hours later. “No one was informed,” fumed Goda. “No one in my entire street knew or thought such a thing would happen,” he said.

Over a week after the flood of December 2, questions are now being raised as to what caused the deluge. Sources within government told The Wire that although an alarm was sounded off to release water from the brimming Chembarambakkam reservoir on November 30 itself, the secretary of the Public Works Department awaited a green signal from the chief secretary of the state. The chief secretary in turn appears to have delayed the nod. What is mysterious is why the state’s top bureaucrat was even involved in what should have been such a routine matter.

“Especially during the monsoon, the standard operating procedure is that only the executive engineer and not even the PWD secretary can take the decision of releasing water from reservoirs,” said a source within the PWD on condition of anonymity. “There has been upward delegation where it is not required,” he said.

Once released, water from Chembarambakkam lake, 23 kilometres from Chennai, takes 3-4 hours to travel to the city. Standard operating procedure dictates that the PWD inform the Chennai district collector’s office and the Corporation of Chennai about the release of water. The collectorate then issues flood alerts or warnings to the corporation, police, fire services and the media in case evacuation is necessary. As detailed elsewhere, no information was made available to the media and the public about the potential release of a massive 29,000 cusecs of water.

The Wire spoke with senior officials of various departments to find out whether they had been informed about the release of this large volume of water into the Adyar river. Most officials wished to comment only on condition that their identity not be revealed.

Senior Chennai city police officers confirmed that the message about the release of 29,000 cusecs of water was relayed over the wireless to policemen on the ground at around 8pm on the 1st of December. “The message that came over wireless was that the water had already been released,” said one officer. “We were asked to evacuate those living along the Adyar river banks.” This meant that there was a mere four-hour window in which the police, fire services and rescue teams as well as civic authorities could go door to door and warn residents of an impending disaster.

Reports from various areas a week after the flood confirm that the police and fire services personnel did manage to reach some areas in time to pass on the warning. Residents in areas like Manapakkam and a part of Defence Colony were informed. Many did not take the warning seriously and refused to leave their homes. The clock was ticking too fast.

Senior officials in the Chennai corporation too confirmed that information about the massive release of water was communicated to them only late in the evening, around 8 pm on December 1. The Chennai corporation commissioner refused to comment on this query.

The Wire checked with senior officials in various departments about whether they had received information about the impending floods. Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), which supplies electricity to the city, was not warned to switch off power supply in areas which were likely to be hit by flooding, in order to avoid the risk of electrocution, according to officials in the know. The municipal administration and water supply department too were not notified. In most departments, officials watched the news of the flooding on television and contacted the corporation and collectorate to confirm whether there was indeed a problem.

Senior officers in the Army and Navy were unable to specify the exact time their assistance in rescue operations was requisitioned by the state government. “We have been here from the 15th of November onwards,” said a senior Navy officer who did not wish to be named. “We asked the state government if they needed our help. They agreed and we moved in,” he said. District authorities at Kanchipuram stated that they had forwarded a request for Army support on the 1st of December itself to the state government.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which had assisted in rescue operations during flooding in the middle of November, had come in on the 14th and left the state on the 18th of November. A senior officer of the NDRF said that the request for NDRF support had come in from state government at around 6 pm on December 1. Close to 2,000 NDRF personnel arrived in the city by the evening of the December 2 from other states, at least 12 hours after the flooding began.

Shockingly, the Coast Guard appears not to have been contacted at all by the state government.

“The Coast Guard gathered its resources to chip in with rescue and relief operations voluntarily with the limited resources at our disposal,” said S.P. Sharma, commander, Coast Guard Region-East. Top officers in the Coast Guard themselves contacted the Director General of Police of Tamil Nadu and the Chennai city Commissioner of Police, offering their services. A senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they were unaware of the impending flood. “Our helicopters are stationed near the Meenambakkam airport,” said the officer. “The flood waters entered the air base, damaged our craft and we were unable to use them. We requisitioned three helicopters and an Advanced Light Aircraft from other stations like Goa and Porbandar in Gujarat,” he said.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a new small force of around 166 personnel, deployed itself in eight teams across Chennai, Cuddalore and Villupuram on the morning of November 30 itself. “We were on alert since the 14th of November itself,” said Santosh Kumar, Superintendent of Police at the Tamil Nadu Commando Force, who doubles up with the SDRF. “We deployed by ourselves on the morning of the 30th. The locations where we were to move was decided by the DGP,” he said. Kumar added that his team rescued around 4,700 people during the floods.

Entity	Time	Remarks
Fire services	November 1	On alert since November 1; services were available during all three flooding events
SDRF	November 30, morning	Voluntary deployment; on alert since November 14
NDRF	December 1, 6 pm	Didn’t know about release of 29,000 cusecs from Chembarambakkam
Coast Guard	December 1, 7 pm	Wasn’t informed about floods; deployed forces voluntarily
Chennai Corporation	December 1, 8 pm	That 29,000 cusecs of water had been released from Chembarambakkam
TN Police	December 1, 8 pm	City police force on the ground got instructions via wireless that 29,000 cusecs of water had been released
Army & Navy	December 1, 8+ pm	Unsure what time they were asked to begin ops but confirm it was late on December 1
Municipal admin. & water supply dept.	Not informed
TANGEDCO	Not informed

Once these rescue agencies were in, however, confusion prevailed. “No central control room was set up by the Tamil Nadu police,” said a senior officer in the police force. “Each agency was doing its own thing. In my area, I had no idea who all were working – NDRF, Army or Navy. We went about our own rescue operations regardless,” he said.

The Coast Guard officer too confirmed the same. “The Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard all coordinated with each other informally,” said the senior officer. “There were no directions from state police. We got calls from the public and we moved to those areas based on calls received. At the ground level, our personnel coordinated with police personnel on the ground,” he added.

Neither the DGP nor the Chennai Police Commissioner responded to queries on this allegation of a severe lack of coordination and communication between various rescue agencies.

The chief secretary as well as the PWD secretary were unavailable for comment on any of the points raised.

The picture emerging in the aftermath of the devastating flood that hit Chennai is one of inefficiency, delays in taking crucial decisions and a hamstrung leadership that floundered once calamity struck. What actually went wrong – from decision making to coordinating rescue and relief – is something that the state government would need to investigate to ensure no repeat in the future.

As Chennai limps painfully back to normalcy, the affected, like Ekambaram Goda, are furious. “They should have informed us at least,” he said. The deluge would still have happened, but it might not have turned into a tragedy of monumental proportions.

Sandhya Ravishankar is a freelance journalist in Chennai.

Coast Guard Plane Goes Missing, Search On

A Coast Guard Dornier disappeared with three crew on board. Credit: Indian Coast Guard

This is a breaking news report, and will be updated as more information becomes available.

New Delhi: A search and rescue mission is now on for an Indian Coast Guard plane that went missing last night while on a routine surveillance round. It was last seen on the radar at 9:23 pm after which it disappeared and failed to return to base at 10 pm. The Crew of missing Dornier comprised Dy Comdt Vidyasagar (Pilot), Comdt MK Soni (Co-pilot) and Dy Comdt Subhash Suresh(Navigator), ministry of Defence spokseperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted.

Kar also added that the “missing Dornier aircraft was the latest induction to the the ICG, in 2014, and was being flown by highly experienced crew.”He stated that 5 ICG & 4 IN ships, aircraft including LRMS aircrafts P8I have now been roped in to locate the missing Dornier and the search area for the missing aircraft expanded to over 110 KM from the coast and along the coast up to Rameswaram. Local fishing communities and marine police have also been activated to conduct the search.

With inputs from agencies.