Apex panel reviews coastal security Initiatives of Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam The fifth Apex Committee Review Meeting (ACRM) on coastal security of Andhra Pradesh was conducted by Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command on Friday.

The review meeting was co-chaired by Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command and Aditya Nath Das, Chief Secretary, AP. The meeting was attended by the representatives from all the stakeholders including from the State Government, Coast Guard, IB, Customs, CISF, Marine Police, Dept. of Fisheries, minor port authorities and oil operators.

Key issues on coastal security, developments and progress made since the last review in 2019 were discussed and suitably addressed.

Various actions promulgated by the Steering Committee for Review of Coastal Security (SCRCS) such as identification and communication with fishing vessels, their colour coding, training and equipment of Coastal Police and their infrastructure development issues, setting up of village committees were discussed and a clear way ahead was finalised.

According to a release, the meeting achieved its overall aim of finding solutions to strengthen the coastal security of AP as well as achieve greater synergy among all the stakeholders.

The meeting in 2020 could not be held view COVID pandemic.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Aditya Nath Das held discussions with Vice Adm AB Singh, Flag Officer-in-Command, ENC and was briefed on the activities of command. The Chief Secretary was also briefed on various ongoing and future naval infrastructure projects being undertaken in AP.