Daijiworld News Network – Mangalore (AK)
Pics – Dayanand Kukkaje

Mangalore, Dec 1: Series of ceremonies were held at the Coast Guard headquarters at Panambur near here on Friday December 1.

To start off, a Cross Country Championship for Coast Guard personnel of entire western region of the country was organized. The 12kilometres’ run was flagged off by Coast Guard Commander Baadkar.  Six teams representing their respective states participated in the event. Coast Guard Maharashtra team emerged the winners while Coast Guard Karnataka team bagged the second place.

Briefing the media persons about the activities of the Coast Guard Karnataka, deputy commandant Nitin Rathore said that attempts are being made to improve the bilateral relations between the Coast Guard of India and that of other countries. Further, he said that few personnel from Maldives Coast Guard have already been trained as part of this attempt.

He presented a birds’ eye view about the operations performed by the Coast Guard. Patrolling and protecting the coastal region, anti-piracy operations, anti-smuggling operations in collaboration with the custom authorities, gathering intelligence in the coastal Karnataka, providing aid to the local civil administration are some of the aspects included. He added that the Coast Guard also monitors marine pollution off coastal Karnataka.

Rathore revealed that ‘Savithribai Phule’, a new extra-fast patrolling vessel will join the Coast Guard Karnataka by December 5.

On the occasion, a send-off cum felicitation programme for the second batch of local police who underwent a month’s training by the Coast Guard Karnataka was held.

The programme was introduced in October. Police personnel are trained in series of batches, each batch undergoing the training for a month each.

The training intends to instill skills and knowledge of tackling crime at sea. It also is an attempt to enhance better coordination of the Coast Guard and the local police in tracking crime in the coastal region.