Coast Guard holds interaction programme with fishermen

Mangaluru: The Coast Guard Karnataka conducted a community interaction programme with fishermen at Bunder village here to sensitise the local fishing populace on safety and security at sea.

Around 50 fishermen and personnel from the state fisheries department, coastal security police (CSP) and Customs attended the programme on Wednesday, a Coast Guard release here said.

During the interaction, the fishermen were apprised of the present security scenario and the important role they play as eyes and ears at sea.

They were encouraged to share any untoward or suspicious activities at sea with the Indian Coast Guard.

The fishermen were also briefed about various safety precautions to be adhered to while operating at sea including the use of safety equipment.

They were asked to carry boat registration papers including biometric identity cards and Aadhaar cards during their fishing expeditions and also operate in groups or buddy systems so that they can help each other in the event of an emergency.

Assistant Commandant Apoorva Sharma sensitised the gathering about the importance of heeding to weather warnings and collecting weather updates before venturing to sea.

Meanwhile, the second intelligence sharing meeting was also held by the district headquarters, Coast Guard Karnataka at Panambur on Wednesday.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was nominated as lead intelligence agency (LIA) for sea borders by the Centre’s Group of Ministers (GoM) in 2003.

ICG Karnataka has been proactive on intelligence sharing in the area of responsibility (AoR) of Karnataka with the help of other central and state government intelligence agencies to safeguard its 320-km coast line.

DIG S B Venkatesh, district commander, chaired the meeting in which delegates from various agencies exchanged intelligence inputs.

They also provided feedback on the inputs shared during the last meeting held in January at the CG district headquarters.