Pollution control cell at Uchipulli mooted

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has proposed to establish a Pollution Control Cell at Uchipulli near here to check marine pollution in the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, the biologically richest coastal regions in Asia and home for about 4,000 species of flora and fauna.

The cell with state-of-the-art facilities to check marine pollution is being established near Kushi beach as part of expansion of the Mandapam ICG station, according to its Commanding Officer H.H. More. He said the cell would come up on a 30-acre site close to the shore.

The land had been identified and a request made to the district administration to hand over the land to the ICG for setting up the facility, he told

The Hindu .

The facility would have a barge, small vessel and a helipad for lifting aerial disposal sprayings.

It would also have beach cleaning equipment and sand cleaning machinery to keep the beach clean, he added.

The Pollution Control Cell was being established on Kushi beach as there was no space in the Mandapam station.

Recently, an Aqua Node Centre was set up at the station with facilities and equipment for providing training on various water sports, Mr. More noted.

He said the Mandapam ICG station, one of the oldest stations in the country, would get one more Air Cushion Vehicle (ACV) Hovercraft, in the series of 12 ACVs designed and built by M/s Griffon Hoverworks Ltd, United Kingdom. Of the 12 ACVs, the Mandapam station had already got two.

ACV H-190 was commissioned in February, while ACV H-195 on May 13 by Director General of ICG, Vice Admiral Anurag G. Thapliyal.

The Mandapam station was the only station to get three of the 12 ACVs which were capable of undertaking multifarious tasks such as surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue and rendering assistance to those in distress at sea, Mr. More pointed out.

Sources said the Mandapam ICG station was situated at the southeast corner of the State in close proximity to Sri Lanka, and the area was considered highly sensitive and strategically important from the security point of view.