Kolkata, Feb 27 The headquarters of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Region North East, based on Kolkata, received three of the eight Tatrakshak Medals (TM) awarded by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday.
This regional headquarters is in charge of operations along the West Bengal and Odisha coast.
"Those from the Region North East who received the coveted awards are DIG Anil Kumar Parayil, DIG Himanshu Nautiyal and Uttam Navik Mohit Kumar. While DIG Parayil is in charge of the ICG air enclave in Kolkata, DIG Nautiyal is the chief of staff, Headquarters North East Region. Both of them were awarded the medals for meritorious service. Uttam Navik Mohit Kumar was awarded the Tatrakshak Medal for gallantry for saving lives at sea," a senior official from the regional headquarters said.
He said that the ICG is operational 24x7x365 along the Indian coast. The Kolkata-based regional headquarters is in charge of district headquarters at Haldia and Paradip, where a number of ships and hovercrafts are based.
“It also operates two air enclaves at Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. These air enclaves operate fixed wing Dornier aircraft, apart from Chetak and indigenous Dhruv helicopters,” he said.
"This is a sensitive region with two major ports at Paradip and Haldia. In addition to this, there are several private ports that are large, apart from smaller riverine ports. A number of industries, including refineries, are located along the coast. We also have to keep a watch around the Sundarbans area. For this, we have a hovercraft based at Fraserganj in West Bengal," the official said.
He added that the primary challenge is to prevent any attempt by terrorists to approach the coast, adding that for this, the movement of all vessels, large, medium and small, are monitored.
“While large and medium vessels have Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) and can be monitored through radar stations, from the Kolkata-based headquarters itself, there are thousands of fishing boats that operate in the Bay of Bengal. Their movement has to be monitored physically,” he said.
He added that apart from this, they have to watch out for smuggling, piracy, poaching and pollution.
“We also play a key role during cyclonic storms that are common in this region. Our ships and aircraft are on constant patrol, engaged in preventing crime and saving lives. We are also called upon to evacuate ailing or injured mariners from merchant vessels at sea. The ICG saves a life every second day. In addition to this, we are the nodal agency to protect marine species. At the moment, we are playing a major role in Ops Olivia along the Odisha coast. This is an operation to protect the thousands of endangered Olive Ridleys Turtles that arrive at beaches along the Odisha coastline to lay eggs during this time of the year,” the official said.
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