SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY
shashwat@herald-goa.com
VASCO: Fishermen are the “eyes and ears” of security agencies on the sea and engaging them in coastal security planning has assumed crucial importance, especially after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, a top naval official said here on Wednesday.
“The 26/11 terror attack happened through the sea route, in which the intruders used a fishing trawler to enter our shores. We have been continuously engaging the fishermen because they are at the sea most of the time and know who’s around them. So if we are able to create them as our eyes and ears, we can detect an intruding boat,” Naval Officer In-Charge, Goa Area, Commodore Dushyant Purohit said.
He shared the information while speaking about the two-day multi-agency Exercise Sea Vigil led by Indian Navy, that got underway off the Goa coast.
He also said that every fishing boat is required to have a transponder, which is a two-way communication system at sea that enables the fishermen to send short text messages during any emergency.
“With the help of these transponders, we can come to know about the boats in the near vicinity, who owns them and what they are doing. If there is another boat which does not have a transponder, we will come to know that it is intruding into our space,” Commodore Purohit said.
We want each and every person who’s there on the coast to be alert and inform us if they find anything untoward. That is why we have involved a large number of people in the Exercise Sea Vigil. This is being done across the coastal States of the country, he said.
The senior naval officer also highlighted the threat to critical installations from enemy drones.
“As part of the exercise, we are going to simulate the security threat posed by smaller drones. We are involving the local community in our exercise to make the community aligned to such threat perceptions by seeing an unfamiliar object and reporting to the authorities, because participation of the coastal population is important in ensuring maritime security,” he said.
Exercise Sea Vigil is a pan-India Coastal Defence Exercise which was originally conceptualised in 2018 to validate and enhance measures adopted to bolster Coastal Defence post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The fourth edition of the exercise is being undertaken from November 20 to 21, which has involvement of six ministries and 21 agencies.
The Indian Navy is the lead agency for the exercise and is being supported by the Indian Coast Guard, Coastal Security Police, Customs, Port authorities, Fisheries, Intelligence Bureau etc. In addition, there is participation by the NCC and Indian Army as well.
“While coastal security exercises are conducted by individual coastal States regularly, Sea Vigil stands out as a national level initiative providing a holistic appraisal of India’s maritime security capabilities. It also aims at strengthening inter-agency coordination communication processes,” he said.