PANJIM: Even as the State is still debating the terror alert miss by some security agencies, a two-day Sagar Kavach exercise, a comprehensive joint coastal security exercise involving all land and sea-related stakeholders and agencies, will be held on April 18-19. The coastal security exercise was last conducted in November 2017.
The objective of the exercise is to provide seamless seaward cover along the coast by all security agencies from the coastal belt area to the limit of territorial waters, that is, 12 nautical miles. The exercise will also assess the effectiveness of the coastal fishing community in serving as ‘eye and ears’ for early warnings of a seaward threat. The services of Drishti lifeguards present at the beaches will also be utilised.
The exercise will be supervised by the Chief Secretary and is conducted and coordinated by Indian Coast Guard, District Headquarters, Goa. Various agencies like Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Goa Police, Goa Coastal Security Intelligence Agencies, MPT, Ports Administration Department, CISF and Customs etc will take part in this exercise.
Intelligence and infiltration will be induced and alertness and preparedness of the stakeholders, including people, will be tested. This exercise provides all stakeholders an opportunity to fine tune standard operating procedures and test new operation concepts for coastal security.
The State is currently debating the terror threat input, which was shared by the District Coast Guard over a week ago and was missed out by some local security agencies. The Captain of Ports was quick to alert water sports operators, casinos, barges and cruise vessels; while the government and Goa Police had claimed it did not receive any such input. Thereafter Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma said the alert was general and not specific to Goa, even as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala were put on alert.
