Pan-India coastal security exercise today, tomorrow

Mumbai, Jan 11: In order to strengthen the coastal defence mechanism, the Indian Navy and Coast Guard will conduct a coastal security exercise named ‘Sea Vigil’ on Tuesday and Wednesday, an official said.
This is the second edition of the largest coastal defence exercise being conducted pan India in all coastal states and union territories, the official said.
Aiming to validate the efficacy of the country’s coastal defence, the exercise would involve participation of all stakeholders, said Captain Ajay Yadav, Command Coastal Security Officer at HQ Western Naval Command.
The exercise will be conducted under the aegis of Naval Headquarters, Western Naval Command Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command, Southern Naval command and Andaman and Nicobar Command.
It will have the participation of the Navy, Indian Air Force, Coast Guard, NSG, BSF, Police, Customs, CISF, Fisheries, DG Shipping, Port Trusts, SIDS, Oil Handling Agencies etc, he added.
The exercise will see extensive utilisation of technological infrastructure, and effectiveness of the fishing community in serving as the “eyes and ears” for early threat warning will also be assessed, he said.
“Coordination with various stakeholders, seamless flow of information, sharing intelligence inputs with relevant security authorities and implementation of best practices will be exercised. SOPs for contingencies will be validated. The exercise will help to identify and plus gaps in coastal security,” he said.
He said space-based Automatic Information System has been installed on the ships for real time monitoring by the Information Management and Analysis Centre at Gurugram and the information will be relayed to various Joint Operation Centres (JOC).
Around 3.5 lakh fishing boats, which are less than 20 meters are not mandated to install the AIS, and these vessels pose a challenge, though the process of their registration and giving them colour codes is under way, he added.
Over 2500 community interaction programmes have been conducted with the fishing community since 2009 by the Navy and Coast Guard, he said.
To strengthen coastal security, at least 46 radar stations have been installed and installation of 38 more is nearing completion, and eight mobile surveillance systems have also been set up, the official said.
Operation Sagar Kavach is being conducted since 2009 to check the preparedness of coastal security, and at least 240 operations have been conducted, the official said. (PTI)