On the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Mumbai terrorattacks, the government on Tuesdaysaid that the overall coastal andmaritime security along the entirecoast is much stronger than beforeas several steps have been taken in this regard. At any given time, the entire westcoast is under continuous surveillanceby ships and aircraft of the Navy andCoast Guard, an official statementreleased late on Tuesday eveningsaid. In order to be better prepared toprevent a 26/11-type attack from thesea, the Indian Navy, along with theCoast Guard and Indian Air Force, isconducting the annual Defence ofGujarat Exercise for five days. On the occasion of the 6thanniversary of the Mumbai terrorattacks, over 30 ships and submarinesand aircraft of the Indian Navy, IndianAir Force, Coast Guard and stateagencies have been deployed for this exercise off the Western Coast ofIndia. During this exercise, the defence ofthe offshore oil production areas willalso be tested. This exercise willprovide an opportunity to finetuneStandard Operation Procedures andtest new operational concepts for coastal security, the statement said. It added, that since 2008, coastal andmaritime security has beenstrengthened substantially bysuccessful implementation oftechnical, organisational andprocedural initiatives by all maritime security agencies. Plugging gaps, where identified, is acontinuous process that is beingaddressed appropriately, it said. After the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in2008, several measures wereannounced by the government tostrengthen coastal and maritimesecurity along the entire coast. Due to the coordinated efforts of allconcerned, all these measures arenow in place and overall maritimesecurity is much stronger thanbefore, the statement said. Joint Operations Centres (JOCs), set upby the Navy as command and controlhubs for coastal security at Mumbai,Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blairare fully operational. Coastal patrolling byNavy, CoastGuard and marine police hasincreased sharply over the last fewyears
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 03:04:46 +0000