SOURCE: PTI
Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt inaugurated the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) jetty at Vadinar in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district as a step towards augmenting infrastructure development in the ICG’s strategically important North-West region.
While inaugurating the jetty on Friday, the Union minister lauded the role played by the ICG in safeguarding national maritime interests in its areas of responsibility, an official release said. “The development of the jetty was undertaken by the Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) as a deposit work at a cost of Rs 74 crore,” the ICG said in the statement. On average, the headquarters deploys 10 to 12 ships and two to three aircraft daily for security, surveillance, and to keep constant vigil at sea, it said.
In addition to the Vadinar jetty, the Coast Guard is also building a 100-metre jetty extension at Porbandar, a 200-metre jetty at Okha and a 125-metre jetty at Mundra in Gujarat, the release said. The ICG North-West regional headquarters was established on December 16, 2009 at Gandhinagar.
It executes the Coast Guard’s mandated charter in the maritime zones of Gujarat, Daman and Diu. Gujarat has a 1,215-km long coastline, which is one-sixth of the country’s total coastline, and shares notional IMBL with Pakistan.
Director General Rakesh Pal, Inspector General A K Harbola and other dignitaries of the Central and state governments were present on the occasion, it said.