Port Blair, Jan 20: The District Coastal Level Security meeting was held under the chairmanship of Shri Suneel Anchipaka, Deputy Commissioner (SA) wherein the Shri Ravi Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police (SA) and officers and representatives of line departments/agencies attended.
The meeting was convened to monitor and review the preparedness of line departments to deal with security threats. During the discussion the role of custom department was emphasized at length and it was stated that their responsibility would increase manifold in the view of upcoming projects. In this regard the setup of Customs department in the Islands is to be reviewed and strengthening of necessary infrastructure.
The matter regarding the proposal for maintenance of road leading to Light House at South Bay, Little Andaman was also discussed and DC(SA) directed the concerned to follow up the matter on priority.
The SP(SA) stated that the Police department has beefed up joint patrolling exercise along with other departments in the coastlines. The DC(SA) opined to conduct regular meeting with the Fishermen Watch Groups and sensitize them to pass on information especially suspicious activities noticed in the sea or in the remote islands during fishing. The SP(SA) stated that necessary information will be passed on to all departments and agencies.
The DC(SA) raised the issue of bio metric cards for the fishermen by the Fisheries Department and also directed the representatives of Navy and Coast Guard to check the same while patrolling to strengthen the security and rule out any intrusion through sea.
The meeting concluded with the DC(SA) urging all the participants to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to avoid any breach with respect to the coastal security.