Security has been tightened at Paradip Port after the bomb blast in New Delhi on Monday evening. The port’s security has been elevated to level 2 and, patrolling is being carried out in the port and its nearby areas. “All vehicles passing through the port area are being checked,” said additional superintendent of police, Jagatsinghpur, Smurti Ranjan Kar, on Tuesday.
Security forces and police officers of marine police stations are checking fishing vessels and trawlers. The fisheries department has already issued biometric fingerprint identity cards (BFIC) to many marine fishermen. “Without identity cards, fishermen cannot venture into the sea. Villagers and fishermen in almost every coastal village have been made aware of threats from the sea and steps they can take to contribute to coastal security,” said Kar.
“We have asked traditional marine fishermen to go in for group fishing in their small boats and immediately report suspicious boats or vessels to the authorities. They should carry the original boat registration certificate and the biometric identity cards with them,” added Kar.
Joint coastal patrol (JCP) exercise is aimed to strengthen surveillance, detection and identifications of enemy forces, deploying the marine fishing community as “eyes and ears” of security agencies and also to revalidate the communication and coastal security measures.
Coastal security along the 484-km-long Odisha coast has been tightened by the coast guard and other security agencies and strict patrolling has been taken up, said a senior official of Indian Coast Guard (headquarters), Paradip , on Tuesday. Odisha has large maritime assets that includes 3.6 lakh fishermen operating over 20,000 fishing boats, three ports namely Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur and jetties and coastal industries.
