CHENNAI:As Cyclone Hudhud is set to make a landfall at Odisha and Andhra Pradesh Coast on Sunday, Indian Coast Guard is deploying its ship and aircraft to bring back fishermen from Tamil Nadu and other coastal states.
Inspector General Satya Prakash Sharma, Regional Commander, Coast Guard (East), told reporters on the sidelines of commissioning of Indian Coast Guard Air Cushion Vehicle H-197 on Saturday that mariners and fishers are being warned about the impending cyclone and aircraft and ship are put on alert to bring back fishermen before the cyclone makes landfall.
Interestingly, coastguard has also put on alert its 17 ships, two Air Cushion Vessels (ACVs) and nine aircraft in Eastern and North-Eastern regions to augment the rescue and relief operations.
Out of 17 ships, six ships and five aircraft have been stationed at Chennai, six ships at Kakinada, three at Vishakhapatnam, four ships at Paradip and one ship, two ACVs and four aircraft at Haldia.
Sharma also said that in the last two years, coast guard ships have rescued 360 fishermen off Tamil Nadu coast alone.
“We have also apprehended 96 foreign fishing vessels with 503 crew for trespassing into our coastal waters and seized 58,000 kg of fish worth Rs 4.8 crore,” Sharma said.
Talking about the commissioning of the 11th ACV H-197, he said that this will be the fifth air cushion vehicle to be based in Tamil Nadu and shall operate from Chennai before its positioning in Mandapam. He also said the coastal security mechanism for the state was reviewed at the apex level by the security forces and state administration. Sharma said, “The establishment of coastal surveillance Network (CSN) comprising of radars, optical cameras and range finders along the coast has sharpened our teeth to deter any inimical overtures.”
The ACV was commissioned by Chief Justice of Madras High court S K kaul. The prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammad Abdul Ali, Commodore Amar Mahadevan, Naval Officer in charge of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, T Sridhar, additional chief secretary of Tamil Nadu were also present on the occasion.