Yellowgate police get new speedboat for patrol

The Yellowgate police have acquired another speed boat to man the 46km long coastline on the eastern coast of Mumbai.

The Yellowgate police have acquired another speed boat to man the 46km long coastline on the eastern coast of Mumbai.

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The boat named as ‘Bhima’ had arrived in the city two months ago as a part of the consignment from the Goa Shipping Yard.

The coastal police are now all set to receive another 16 high end boats to protect our coastal belt. The consignemnt was delayed after a boat costing 3.5 crores had broken down. Koyna belonging to the Versova Sagri police station was not usable for six months.

Bhima like Kaveri is 9meters long with speed that can terrify anyone. The 12-seater boat costing Rs 1.5crore is has two 500-horsepower engines each and patrols shores up to 5 nautical miles off shore, an area that falls under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai police. Ideal for interception and chasing the boat can reach Vashi Bridge within 15 minutes, which normally takes 1.5 hours on a regular ferry.

According to Chandrakant Naik, senior police inspector of Yellowgate police station Bhima is eased the load off Kaveri. Besides being bulletproof, each of Bhima’s vessels is equipped with a radar that enables it to spot other boats in its radius and also measure the depth of the sea, a global positioning system and a marine communication device that helps it communicate with other boats. The driver who is trained to mark the patrolling routes drives the boat carefully on the invisible path.

The Coast Guard has trained around 450 police personnel and they had to attend 18 courses before going onboard Kaveri and Bhima that patrols the coast 24 hours.

“We are expecting another consignment to arrive within a fortnight. The consignment was delayed because Koyna (a boat manning the sea on the western coast) had developed major problems and had to be set back for a total engine replacement,” said Naik.

“Bhima and Kaveri however do have any engine problems and are in perfect condition. A few days ago Bhima had crashed into a rock while patrolling and damaged the front part but it took just three days for its repair work.”