Bhamre reviews operational prepraredness of Coast Guard

Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre Thursday reviewed the operational preparedness of Coast Guard, during at visit to the Regional Headquarters (West) here.

The minister was briefed on the infrastructure development and coastal security mechanism of the Coast Guard Region (West), an official said.

Bhamre reviewed the preparedness of the Coast Guard to tackle maritime emergencies like marine oil pollution, grounding of ships and cyclones, the official said in a statement.

Measures taken by the Coast Guard to safeguard the interests of the fishing community, progress on the second phase of chain of static sensors were reviewed.

"An insight into the operational infrastructural developments was also presented to the minister. Special initiatives like making fishermen the "eyes and ears" of Coast Guard and helping children from fishing hamlets join the Coast Guard through community interactions were also discussed," he said.

Bhamre expressed satisfaction at the prompt response by Coast Guard ships and aircraft to numerous SAR (Search and Rescue) and medical evacuations at sea including assistance to fishermen in distress, the official said.

The minister also lauded the efforts of Coast Guard Region (West) for the "massive resource mobilisation" in the recent flood relief operations in Kerala.