179 boats seized, 1,689 people arrested for illegally entering Indian waters in last 10 years: Govt

Around 170 boats were seized and over 1,600 personnel arrested for illegally entering Indian waters in last 10 years, the Ministry of Defence told Parliament on Friday. In a written response in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Defence, Sanjay Seth, said, "A total of 179 boats have been seized and 1,683 personnel arrested over the last 10 years for illegally entering Indian waters. These boats were engaged in various illegal activities like poaching, narcotics smuggling and illegal immigration."

Explaining the Indian Coast Guard's (ICG) initiatives to strengthen coastal security, the minister said ICG deploys 18-20 ships and 10-12 aircraft, and other similar modes, for surveillance on a daily basis.

"The ICG assets ensure maritime law enforcement to strengthen coastal security and maintain rules-based order at sea. Surveillance efforts also focus on Offshore Development Area and seas adjoining Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands.


"Surveillance of coastal areas through Coastal Surveillance Network (CSN) and investigation by Remote Operating Station (ROS) and Remote Operating Centres (ROCs) are undertaken," Seth said.

He added that in the last 10 years, ICG has conducted 3,00,296 boarding operations, 153 coastal security exercises, 451 coastal security operations, 458 security drills and 3,645 joint coastal patrols.