K.Muralidharan Pillai
Mayabunder, Sept 01: Indian Coast Guard Station Mayabunder in coordination with District Administration and fisheries department are conducting Mass Awareness Drives to spread awareness on coastal security and various aspects involving coastal security among fishermen, local populace and various departments. The interactions are envisaged by the Inspector General K Natarajan, PTM, TM, Commander, Coast Guard Region (Andaman & Nicobar) who is committed for enhanced security of Andaman Islands.
Last week the awareness drive was kick started at Mayabunder where in various dignitaries including Mrs. R Menaka IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Santosh Kumar Meena, Superintendent of Police, Divisional Forest Officer(wild life) and Commandant SR Patil Commanding Officer Indian Coast Guard Station Mayabunder with
crew of station graced the occasion. Officials from zilla parishad, Police, Forest, Fisheries, IB, Pradhansand PRI members of Mayabunder panchayat were also present to spread awareness. All elected representative of Mayabunder community also attended the meeting. The deputy commissioner and superintendent of police
Mayabunder briefed regarding relevance of coastal security and subsequently a detailed presentation on coastal security was presented by the Commanding Officer ICGSMayabunder. He emphasized on coordinated efforts by all the stakeholders towards coastal security and involvement of local populace especially fishermen
community in coastal security apparatus and also briefed the gathering regarding various aspects of coastal security exercise being conducted by Coast Guard Regional HQ (A&N) from 18-20 Nov 14. The Station Commander also highlighted the safety guidelines for the fishermen community and also stressed upon the fishermen folk to become eyes and ears for the security agencies. He also answered the questions raised by the stakeholders regarding the conduct of security exercise and their specific role.
The programme helped in spreading awareness among the communities and also will go a long way in developing fishermen as the front line of coastal security. Similar interactions are planned at Chainpur &Rangat on 10 Sep 14, Nimbudera on 24 Sep 14 and Rampur & Pokkadera on 15 Oct 14. Indian coast guard authorities have requested whole hearted cooperation from dignitaries and fishermen of respective areas for successful conduct of events.
