CHENNAI: Coast Guard conference commences today

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on July 8, 2010:

CHENNAI: The Coast Guard Region (East) is starting its two-day district/station commanders conference at its regional headquarters near Napier Bridge here from Thursday.All district commanders from the maritime states of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Commanding Officers of ships and Officers-in-Charge of establishments will attend the important conference organised once in six months.

According to sources, during the conference, the Commanding Officers would brief the regional Commander Inspector General A Rajasekhar on various issues, events and achievements of their respective units during the last half year and chart the future course of action on various operational aspects.

During the two-day conference, the regional commander will also review the progress made on development and infrastructure issues in the region and analyse other maritime security-related issues with the participating officials.

The meeting is likely to discuss the increased apprehensions of Sri Lankan fishing trawlers with Sinhalese crew well inside the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The issue gains significance as the Coast Guard's eastern region has,in the first four months alone, apprehended over 55 fishing trawlers with 184 Sinhalese crew for intrusion into the Indian maritime boundary.

Apart from law enforcement and security, safety of life and property at sea, the Indian Coast Guard has been mandated with multifarious tasks. The Coast Guard is also mandated with the task of search and rescue in the 4.6 million sq km in the Indian peninsula.