New Delhi: Significant steps have been taken by the Indian Coast Guard for round-the-clock monitoring and patrolling of eastern and western coasts post 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
The entire coastal security scenario has been reviewed in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack and several initiatives and decisions have been taken to ward off threats from the sea, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said.
Coastal security has been subjected to multi-level inter- ministerial review by the government, he said in a written reply.
Replying to supplementaries, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said government will make maximum efforts to ensure coastal security.
Listing out the initiatives and decisions to enhance the coastal security, Rijiju said Phase-I of the Coastal Security Scheme was completed in March 2011 and the Indian Navy has been designated as the Authority responsible for overall Maritime Security.
The Navy has established four joint operation centres at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair for sharing intelligence among various agencies and acting on actionable intelligence at sea.
Rijiju said the Indian Coast Guard has also established nine additional stations, including at Karwar and Ratnagiri.
He also said that preparation of National Population Register (NPR) for coastal population has been initiated.
Besides, issuance of Multi-purpose National Identity Cards (MNICS) to all those living in the coastal villages, including fishermen, and registration of all types of fishing vessels have been initiated, he added.
Rijiju said sustained deployment of 19-22 ships per day at sea has been made and 100 Coastal Security Exercises and 117 Coastal Security Operations have been conducted from January 2009 to June 2014.
To another question, he said UT Administration of Daman and Diu received guidelines form the Ministry of Environment and Forest to prepare a comprehensive plan for the abatement of pollution in the Daman Ganga river under National River Conservation Plan.
Steps have been initiated by the Daman and Diu administration to prepare and submit the same to the environment ministry, the Minister said.
He also informed the House that the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur has been requested to prepare a comprehensive plan for the abatement of pollution in the Daman Ganga river under National River Conservation Plan. (PTI)
