Mumbai: A two-day comprehensive Coastal Security Exercise Sagar Kavach involving all maritime security agencies was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard along the coast of Maharashtra from 22-23 May. Personnel and assets of the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, State Administration of Maharashtra, Marine Police, Fisheries, Customs, Intelligence Agencies, NCB, DRI, MMB, CISF, Major Ports and Non Major Ports actively participated in the exercise.
"The exercise aimed to assess the efficacy and robustness of the coastal security mechanism and validate existing Standard Operation Procedures whilst dealing with asymmetric threat emanating from the sea. The intensity of coordination can be gauged for the participating assets. A total of 19 ships and 05 aircraft of ICG/IN, 47 boats from Coastal Police, 05 Boats from Customs, 22 Boats from MMB, 08 Boats from CISF were deployed at sea," said a Coast Guard official.
He added, "In addition 199 security guards were deployed round the clock at 120 fish landing centres and 38 railway personnel were also deployed to the coastal area for protection of railway assets. Participation of approximately 3051 personnel from various stakeholders was observed. Enhanced security measures were instituted and extensive aerial surveillance undertaken by aircraft and helicopters."
"The exercise was coordinated and conducted from State Coastal Security Operations Centre, Maharashtra which is the nodal hub for coordinating all coastal security operations and exercises in Maharashtra. NSG teams were given first hand experience of maritime operations. In addition NCC cadets were provided an opportunity to witness the exercise and overview on Coastal Security Construct. The exercise witnessed close coordination and synergy among all coastal security stakeholders. Lessons learnt from the exercise would be incorporated progressively to update SoPs and strengthen Coastal Security Construct," the official said.
