Port Blair, Apr 10: Andaman and Nicobar Command alongwith state administration and other maritime stakeholders of A&N Islands is set to validate the SOPs for ‘Coastal Security for A&N Islands’ during Coastal Security Exercise – ‘Tat Suraksha – 01/12’.
‘Tat Suraksha’ is a bi -annual Coastal Security Exercise wherein various drills and contingencies are practiced jointly by civil administration and armed forces in a coordinated manner to safeguard the coast of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in keeping with the coastal security architecture put in place after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
The Exercise will be conducted in the Andaman Sea from 11 – 13 Apr 12 in two phases. First phase will be the harbour phase involving Table Top exercises. During the second – ‘Tactical’ phase assets of ANC alongwith the assets and personnel from thirteen civil agencies will be deployed at sea. During the exercise simulated hijack and hostage like situations will be exercised. The exercise also will be utilized to create awareness about the coastal security mechanism at A&N Islands and usage of toll free telephone number 1093 dedicated for reporting coastal security issues.
The various state agencies viz. A&N Administration, A&N Police, Fisheries department, Forest department, Port Management Board (PMB), Directorate of Shipping Services (DSS), Light House authorities and Customs department will be actively involved in the exercise.
The exercise will be controlled and monitored from Joint Operations Center (Coastal Security) – JOC (CS) at Headquarters, Andaman & Nicobar Command and Indian Coast Guard being a major stakeholder in the coastal security chain will be coordinating with the all civil agencies during the conduct of the exercise from Regional Coastal Security Operations Center (A&N) at CGRHQ (A&N), thereby upholding the credo- ‘United We Stand’.
