Meeting held for inter-agency coordination in offshore areas

A meeting of several security agencies and petrochemical firms to improve coordination among themselves and tackle contingencies in offshore areas was held in Mumbai on Thursday, a statement said.

The 38th edition of the regional contingency committee, western region, was attended by representatives from the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, customs, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India Meteorological Department, Mumbai Post Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Post Trust, ONGC, RIL, Cairn and others.

It was held under the chairmanship of Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, the chief of staff of the Western Naval Command.

"This meeting, which is held twice a year, is aimed at improving inter-agency coordination for dealing with security challenges and contingencies in offshore development areas," the statement said.

This forum also reviews the conduct of contingency exercises -- code-named 'Prasthan' -- during which responses to various possible contingencies that could occur are rehearsed by all stakeholders in a well-coordinated manner, it said.

The coordination of all responses to such contingencies is done from the Joint Operations Centre in Mumbai, it added.