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26/11 anniversary gift! Coast Guard left headless
Coastal security lapse may have led to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, but on the third anniversary of the dreadful terror saga on Saturday, the country’s premier agency responsible for coastal security is headless.
The Coast Guard’s last Director General Vice Admiral Anil Chopra was transferred a month back to Navy’s Eastern Command, and the Appointments Committee of Cabinet(ACC) headed by the Prime Minister is yet to designate the new chief. At present, Vice Admiral M Muralidharan is the officiating chief of the Coast Guard.
Sources said Muralidharan’s name was forwarded by the Defence Ministry to the ACC as the new Coast Guard chief. However, the ACC is yet to approve his name.
Coast Guard chief is selected from the pool of senior Navy officers, and other officer cadre of this force is selected through a Union Public Service Commission examination on the lines of paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force (BSF) or Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF).
Given the ongoing rapid modernisation of the Coast Guard in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, the delay in appointing the new chief is a matter of concern, sources admitted.
The Government announced a slew of measures after the 26\11 attacks and designated the Navy and the Coast Guard as the two main agencies to ensure security of the 7,500 km long coastline spread covering nine littoral States.
