Coastline vigil: Greater local participation advised

RAMESWARAM: The coastal area here stretches across 21 islets, while 13 sand dunes can be found from Dhanushkodi to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. Combined with the fact that the maritime boundary is just 12 nautical miles away, the sea stretch poses considerable risks in terms of possible infiltrations.
It would be quite easy for outside elements to land in Dhanushkodi, clad in lungis and shirts and holding a travel bag, impersonating refugees.After the civil war in Sri Lanka, several Lankan nationals have landed in this part of Rameswaram Island seeking asylum. These people are not intercepted at sea, but picked up by security agents once they reach land. During the days of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), Palk Strait was a hotbed of smuggling. These days, gold and drugs are smuggled though this route. In November and December last year, local security agencies nabbed more than 500 kg of ganja- all caught in the land.
Under these circumstances, experts feel that it is imperative to engage local fisher folk and use their expertise to keep a check on any fringe elements infiltrating into Indian waters, especially after the Coast Guard intercepted a possibly terrorist boat on Arabian Sea. R Hariharan, former chief of Indian Peacekeeping Forces Intelligence Corps, said that the sea stretch was important, with the Kudamkulam nuclear plant in Tirunelveli and Kalpakkam in Chennai.
"The impact of such attack will be minimal but it will create large-scale panic," he said. Terrorist elements had been present in Sri Lanka earlier too, and it is important that Palk Strait be closely monitored, he said.
R S Vasan, retired commodore and head of strategy and security studies, Center for Asia Studies, said, that Indian Coast Guard placed in Mandapam and Tuticorin as well as the Navy from Uchipuli were monitoring the area well.
"There is aerial and electronic surveillance in the region but we have been suggesting for a long time to utilise fishermen's expertise for security. They should be provided with communication devices and trained well to keep vigil at sea and report to authorities," he said.
At present, Coastal Security Group police interact with fishermen and senstise them on alerting the department through the helpline number 1093. Coast Guard too holds interactive sessions with fisher folk occasionally. "We always report any suspicious movement in sea to marine police, but we should acknowledge that our fishermen are not trained enough in this regard", said N Devadoss, a leader of mechanized boat fishermen here.
"Even after the Arabian Sea incident, authorities have not informed us about keeping a vigil while fishing. The coast guard and marine police conduct awareness sessions once in a while, but do not interact with fishermen closely enough," added G Arul, president of Country Boat Fishermen Association in Pamban.