Port Blair, Dec 16: The debrief of Coastal Security Exercise, Tatsuraksha 02/12 was conducted at A & N Secretariat Conference hall, Chaired by Mr. Anand Praksh, IAS Chief Secretary, A & N Administration. The meeting was attended by Mr. SP Deol, IPS Director General Police and representatives of 16 government agencies.
During the opening remarks, Inspector General VSR Murthy, Commander Coast Guard Region (A & N) expressed resounding success of the Coastal Security exercise with perfect synergy and unprecedented coordination amongst various stake holders of Coastal Security, which includes defence services, State Administration, Departments of Police, Forest, Fisheries, Customs and Int agencies. The Mass awareness drive and Community Interactions programmes organised by the Coast Guard, Army and Navy prior to exercise have yielded desired results. Effective planning and well coordinated surveillance/patrolling efforts by the security agencies, properly backed by actionable intelligence by Int agencies made it difficult for the intruders to penetrate the security barriers. Apprehension of large number of intruders during the exercise is the testimony of heightened security measures put in place by the concerned agencies. A detailed presentation on Coastal Security Exercise was given by Commandant T Ashish, Regional Operations & Plans Officer of Coast Guard during the debrief. The Police force was extremely alert and provided excellent cooperation throughout the exercise. The proactive approach of Mr. M A Naushad, Inspector of police was lauded during the debrief. The prompt actions of District Crisis Management Group headed by Mr. RK Thakur, Deputy Commissioner (South Andaman), which was activated for the first time during the Coastal Security exercise, were also well appreciated.
The observations and lessons learnt were discussed in detail and concrete steps are being instituted to increase the level of participation and also enhance the effectiveness of Coastal Security Network. At the end, the Chief Secretary directed all security agencies to concentrate their surveillance efforts in southern group of islands and also on the west coast of A&N Islands. He also emphasised the need to overcome the shortcomings by the concerned agencies, which were experienced during the exercise in a time bound manner. The debrief was concluded by Chief Secretary congratulating all concerned agencies for their overwhelming participation during the exercise.
