TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Ahead of the New Year celebrations, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Indian Navy and Goa Marine Police have intensified patrolling on and off the Goa coast to thwart any possible terror threat.
Bigger ships of the Indian Navy have sailed from Mumbai and Cochin to patrol the western coast. Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar was taken around the sea on a hovercraft that can travel in water and on land.
Speaking on the sidelines of a security preparedness exercise, ICG Deputy Inspector General Manoj Badkaar said they have about eight hovercrafts along the western coast of which one is stationed at Mangalore which can be occasionally based in Goa depending on the requirements.
According to the ICG, landing points of ships or trawlers are very vulnerable and an account of persons onboard and those alighting ashore is important.
Goa with 58 landing points, along 114 km length of coastline, has the fourth longest coastline on the west coast of India. Maharashtra accounts for the highest landing points with 728 along 652.6 kilometers of coastline, followed by Kerala with 157 landing points and 569.7 kilometers coastline and Karnataka with 74 landing points along 280 km of coastline.
Meanwhile, the tourism department intends to seek a hovercraft from the Defence Ministry to rescue tourists from the sea even though lifeguards attached with Drishti Services are on the job.
At a meeting with government representatives, including Parulekar, on Tuesday, the ICG requested the State for land to set up a base to station security hovercrafts.
