Mumbai: State government has allotted Rs 5 crore to the Fisheries Department to clear the dues of the private guards deployed to secure the state's coastline. Fisheries minister Mahadev Jankar said in the Legislative Council, that the dues of the guards will be cleared next month.

The private security guards are deployed in the coastal districts - Mumbai, Mumbai suburban, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. They have not been paid salaries for the last six months.

NCP member Nare-ndra Patil raised the issue. He said, after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the fisheries department was asked to rope in security guards at sensitive spots along the coastline. 

Minister of State for Fisheries Arjun Khotkar said, “Based on the recommendations made by the Coastal security committee formed under the then chief secretary, the department had hired 296 guards including 23 supervisors, 525 landing spots were identified, of which 91 were found to be sensitive. Therefore, private security guards were deployed." 

However Shiv Sena legislator Anil Parab said, “Guarding the coastline was the responsibility of the Navy, Coast Guard and police and the fisheries department did not have the expertise in combating terror.”