Is the inability of the state’s police forces to get their act together? After the 26/11 (2008) terrorist attacks on the city, it was decided to spend Rs 63 crore in procuring 29 interceptor and patrol boats for the city’s coastline. The boats were supposed to arrive between November 2009 and June 2010. They did not. Only 5 boats had arrived till September 2010 and an advance payment of Rs 26 crore was already given out. Recent reports put the number of boats at 10 which apparently are in disuse. It’s not clear where the funds have disappeared, if they have.
After the attacks, the Indian Navy said it would create its own force too, now reportedly with a fleet of 95 speedboats - of which 80 are from a Sri Lanka-based firm. And India’s Coast Guard, whose job it is to guard the coastlines has ordered 36 interceptor boats of its own. Now that's a lot of boats, broadly to respond to the new sea-borne threat of terrorism. The question of course is, how do they all (Mumbai Police, Navy and Coast Guard) co-ordinate with each other? If they are.