NEW DELHI: Underlining the need to adopt a proactive approach in preparation of a contingency plan to deal with marine pollution, the Coast Guard today stressed on provisioning of response equipment to deal with instances like minor oil spills.
During the 22nd National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP) and preparedness, Coast Guard Director General Rajendra Singh, who chaired the meeting, called for setting up of technical committee for monitoring health of marine environment and publish report bi-annually, said a statement from the Coast Guard.
Indian Coast Guard is responsible to protect and preserve marine environment and prevent and control marine pollution.
In the meeting, emphasis was also on developing new guidelines for use of Oil Spill Detection (OSD) in Indian waters.
"Non-major ports (should be) brought under inspection regime in line with major ports. Non-major ports preparedness in oil spill response operation will be inspected jointly by the Coast Guard and State Maritime Board," the statement said.
The meeting was attended by 102 representatives from different ministries in the central government, coastal states, major and non-major ports and oil handling agencies.