Murud (Maha): The Coast Guard station at
Murud Janjira set up to boost coast surveillance was
commissioned on Thursday, a Defence spokesperson said.
The station, about 160 km from here along the Konkan
coast, is expected to help prevent smuggling of arms and
explosives and infiltration of anti-national elements through
sea route.
Director General Coast Guard Vice Admiral Anil Chopra,
formally commissioned the station, which was activated in June
as per the scheme for strengthening of Joint Coastal
Patrolling off the Gujarat and Maharashtra coast, the
spokesperson said.
Three stations funded by the Ministry of Home Affairs at
Veraval (Gujarat), Dahanu (Maharashtra) and Murud Janjira
(Maharashtra) are part of the scheme.
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The Director General Coast Guard has been designated as
the Commander Coastal Command, with the responsibility for
overall coordination between various Central and state
agencies in all matters relating to the coastal security.
The station will function under the administrative and
operational control of the Commander Coast Guard Region (West)
through the Commander Coast Guard District HQ-2 at Mumbai.
Commandant M Vijay Kumar has been appointed as the first
Commanding Officer of the station, the spokesperson added.
The responsibility of coastal security from shoreline up
to the territorial waters has been entrusted to the Coast
Guard post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Admiral Chopra
said.
"In response to the enhanced role that has been assigned,
the Coast Guard is pursuing urgent enhancement of its
surveillance capabilities, so as to meet its tasks and
responsibilities effectively," he said.
The present force-levels and manpower would be doubled in
a few years with corresponding infrastructure development and
augmentation of trained manpower, he said.
"To put an effective coastal security mechanism in place,
the Coast Guard with the Indian Navy and other agencies
having stake in the maritime domain is sparing no efforts to
plug the security gaps to safeguard our nation from any
external threat," he said.
The new Coast Guard station at Murud Janjira will play an
effective role in undertaking joint coast patrol along with
police, Customs and Fisheries Department to thwart maritime
security threats, he said.
Two more stations at Dahanu and Ratnagiri have been
planned in Maharashtra by March 2011. Setting up of a Coast
Guard Air Station at Ratnagiri is also on the anvil.
This will be the first full-fledged air station of the
Coast Guard in Maharashtra which will play a crucial role in
maritime surveillance besides search and rescue at sea along
Maharashtra coast.
PTI
