No maintenance contracts, police equip themselves to repair speedboats

Having been left in the lurch by manufacturers of expensive vehicles and boats that were purchased post-26/11 without annual maintenance contracts (AMCs), the Mumbai Police is getting its own men trained in batches by the manufacturers to enable "in-house" repairs in the future.

An initial batch of 30 personnel from the police's Motor Transport (MT) department was recently been trained in repairing speedboats procured by the police.

As many as ten speed boats were procured at a cost of Rs 2 crore each from the Marine Frontier Company in 2009-10 to strengthen the marine wing of the Mumbai Police and an AMC for these vessels was also signed.

"The idea now is to get our own men trained by the manufacturer to carry out repairs on the vessels. More than 30 staff from the MT have been trained by the company to repair mechanical glitches in the speed boats. They have been trained in our own workshop, as well as out on sea. Our staff has secured certificates from the Maharashtra Maritime Board to operate the speed boats," said a senior officer from the MT department.

"In future, if we procure any boats or vehicles, we will carry out this practice of sending our men for training while the AMC is still in effect. This will enable us to carry out in-house repairs and preventive maintenance even when the AMC expires, or in some cases, when the manufacturer shuts down operations," said the officer.

The latest move comes after several high-cost acquisitions by the police proved to be liabilities when they developed glitches.

Four amphibious patrol boats called 'Sealegs' were procured at a cost of Rs.1.6 crore from a New Zealand company as part of the Mumbai Police's capacity building exercise post 26/11, and were paraded at Girgaum Chowpatty during the first anniversary of the terror attack.

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