The State government will soon depute Special Police Officer (SPO) for each village along the above 970-km coastline to strengthen the coastal security.
It has taken the decision based on the recommendation of an expert team led by Inspector General of Police (Coastal Security) G. Surya Prakasha Rao.
“More than 520 SPOs will be appointed in the coastal villages in the first phase. The SPOs will become part of the coastal security wing of the police,” Mr. Surya Prakasha Rao told The Hindu.
The SPO would be a bridge between the local communities and the marine police. The SPOs posted at the villages will keep the marine police updated about the movements of suspected people as also the marine operations under his/her jurisdiction. A high-level team of coastal security officials led by Mr. Surya Prakasha Rao held talks with Eastern Naval Command few days ago on the strategies to be implemented in guarding the coast.
The team also studied existing coastal security strategies being implemented in neighbouring states of Odisha and Tamil Nadu. Deployment of SPOs will mostly avoid relying on local police in tracing the movements of the suspected and prevention of entrance of strangers into the coast both on the sea and land routes.
The SPOs would be trained in all kinds of existing operations of the coastal security. Mr. Surya Prakasha Rao also confirmed that a total of 15 marine boats to monitor the marine operations in the Bay of Bengal would be added to the coastal security.
