Taking into consideration the prospective growth in marine traffic through the southern coastline of Kerala, the Customs Department will soon station a Marine Preventive Unit for maritime surveillance in the region. According to officials, a proposal to form the unit has already been moved to the Union Ministry through the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise, and Central Tax. The proposal follows a request to this effect made by the Government of Kerala through the District Collector, Kollam. The Customs Department currently operates two marine preventive units in Kerala one each at Beypore and Kochi. Equipped with patrol boats, these units work in tandem with the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, and Coastal police stations. Confirming the move, Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said the unit would most probably be stationed at the Kollam port. The unit will be trained to intercept, board, search, and seize suspicious vessels and will be entrusted to check smuggling through sea routes and inland waterways, he said. Officials said stationing a marine preventive unit in the southern region was a crucial move, considering the earlier reports of rampant liquor smuggling from Goa and Thiruvananthapuram by seafaring fishing boats. In their opinion, these routes could also be potentially used to smuggle drugs, fake currency notes, or even explosives. For Lakshadweep The Customs is most likely to constitute a similar unit for the Lakshadweep islands, the administration of which has approached the department seeking to declare its seaport at Kavaratti, Minicoy, and Agatti as Customs area’. A proposal pertaining to this would soon be sent to the Union Ministry for its consideration. Meanwhile, official sources flagged concerns over the shortage of manpower experienced by the department. Once these proposals are approved, we would require more manpower because the Customs in Kerala, with a staff shortage of close to 40%, is already stretched to the limit. The government will have to recruit through the Staff Selection Commission, they said.