The Western region of the Coast Guard has sought permission from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority to construst a helibase at Juhu airport. The Coast Guard's two Chetak helicopters operated from INS Shikra - the helibase of the Indian Navy at Colaba. But when the latter expanded its operation and introduced Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH), they found the space insufficient and asked the Coast Guard to move out. For this reason, the Coast Guard could not conduct any operations from Mumbai. For a month now, the Coast Guard has kept one Chetak at Oil and Natural Gas Commission hangar on a temporary basis and flies to Daman Coast Guard base for maintenance. Coast Guards director general Virender Pathania said, "We have got the land from the airport authority of India to set up a base. We will be raising the plot as it always gets flooded. We will be constructing two hangars and an apron. At present, one of our Daman-based Chetak helicopters has been operating from ONGC base in Juhu for a month." The Coast Guard will be given the space occupied earlier by the Bombay Flying Club. Since the taxiway also gets flooded, this place will also be raised. The helibase will be located on the western side of Juhu airport. Ashok Verma, the airport director of Juhu airport, said, "We have given them land near the Bombay Flying Club for constructing their base and they may have applied for these permissions." Recently, the Coast Guard got two Mark-1 Advanced light helicopters from Gujarat and they were stationed at Ratnagiri airport, facilitating search and rescue, and other operations in districts such as Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg. A senior state government officer said, "Last year, amid heavy rains in Raigad and Ratnagiri districts, there was not a single helicopter of Coast Guard in the state. Finally, naval helicopters came to our rescue. After our repeated requests, the Coast Guard got two helicopters in Ratnagiri. After completion of Juhu airport base, two more will come to Mumbai."
