On the lines of Home Guards personnel, 500 seafarers would be entrusted with the task of guarding marine areas along the coastal districts in the State, said Additional Director General of Police (Coastal Security Group) Sylendra Babu here on Friday.
He was addressing a coordination meeting chaired by Collector K. Nanthakumar, in which officers from various Central and State government organisations, including Customs, Coast Guard, Navy and Fisheries Department, participated.
Later, talking to reporters, Mr. Babu said that with the idea of strengthening marine patrolling, the State government had taken a number of proactive initiatives.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa declared open 11 marine police stations on June 25 through videoconferencing, and now there was a marine police station in every 20 km in the coastal districts. This would certainly help in intensifying patrolling by the Coastal Security Group.
Rameswaram, which had two marine police stations, would get six more.
Likewise, the Coastal Security Group had been given additional speed boats with state-of-the-art gadgets.
Seamless coordination and exchange of information among officials of different State and Central agencies would make them ready to face challenges from smugglers and other antisocial elements, he said.
