This was stated by ICG Deputy Inspector General Manoj Bhatkar while addressing newsmen on the sidelines of the 40th Raising Day function of the ICG at the Coast Guard headquarters on Monday.
“The coast guard is growing infrastructure-wise because the government is giving us what support we want. Today, we have a 105-metre-long offshore patrolling vessel and two fast offshore vessels, including ICG Amal and ICG Apporva, based in Goa. Similarly, we have an interceptor boat ‘Chalie-410’. Soon, we will have another fast interceptor boat, which is in the final stages at Bharati Shipyard and is likely to be inducted in a couple of months. Our strength will increase to six ships based in Goa, and using these ships and manpower in hand, we are confident that offshore security at Goa’s coast is much better than what it was five years back,” said Bhatkar.
Commenting on the performance of security agencies in the biannual ‘Sagar Kavach’ exercise, Bhatkar said, “We are conducting coastal security exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’ twice a year. We have improved our coordination. It makes us feel that we can tackle anything during emergencies. The response timing has drastically improved, but still we should keep on practicing such exercises.”
On the garbage treatment plant site identified by the Chicolna-Bogmalo panchayat beside the proposed coast guard headquarters in Santerant, Bhatkar said, “We are not aware of the identification of a garbage plant site next to our residential quarters or our new coast guard base at Santerant. We will make a request to South District Collector Sachin Shinde to reconsider the decision. How can the panchayat identify a garbage site under forest cover? We are coming up with a full-fledged coast guard base in a few years, and this will hamper our operations.”
Bhatkar also encouraged women to join the ICG and informed that there are 105 female officers, including five in Goa. He added, “Around two percent of the total ICG staff comprises of female officials.”
On the ICG’s operations, he said, “The ICG operations are 24×7. The thrust in the operational tempo in the Western Region has been achieved by deploying on an average 12 ships per day, and there are five aircraft engaged in 24×7 maritime surveillance. A cumulative 3,616 days of patrolling at sea were clocked to achieve an incident-free year.”
He added, “Since ships and aircraft are workhorses for ICG, 23 ships have been commissioned in the year gone by, which includes a highly-sophisticated pollution control vessel, an offshore patrol vessel, nine fast patrol vessels and 11 interceptor boats, taking the strength to 120 ships/boats and 62 aircraft. Additionally, ICG has five regional headquarters, 14 district headquarters, 42 stations and 10 sir establishments dotting the coastline.”
