To strengthen the coastal security mechanism, a joint two-day maritime security exercise named ‘Sagar Kavach’ was conducted to further invigorate the security mechanism along the 480-km-long Odisha coastline.

The two-day exercise was conducted under the stewardship of the Indian Coast Guard to validate the effectiveness of coastal security mechanisms along the Odisha coast, Coast Guard officials said in a statement on Thursday.

The main aim of the exercise was to evaluate the threats emanating from seaward in the present geo-political scenario and validate existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of all stakeholders for enhanced coastal security mechanisms.

The exercise was also aimed at checking the efficacy of layered security arrangements, air surveillance, deep sea patrol by bigger ships of Coast Guard and Navy and close coast Patrol by Coast Guard Interceptor Boats, boats of Marine Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Customs, and Forest department.

The stakeholders, who participated in the exercise included the Indian Navy, Army, Defence College Gopalpur, Marine Police, State Police, CISF, Integrated Test Range/Port Experimental Establishment Chandipur, Forest department, Fisheries department, Customs, Ports, Light Houses, Immigration and various intelligence agencies.

Participants were divided into two teams — Attack (Red) Force and Defence (Blue) Force. The Attack team acted as anti-national elements who attempted to infiltrate coastal areas, while Defence teams established Coastal Security Surveillance. The ships and aircraft of the Coast Guard, Indian Navy, the patrol boats of Marine Police, Customs and CISF, Were deployed at sea, while land forces were deployed near the coast and entry points, in the two-day exercise.

The efficacy of men and material was tested for alertness in preventing any incursion by non-state actors in our coastal areas. The sustained efforts put in by all stakeholders ensure a seamless flow of information from the lowermost formations to the higher echelons, Coast Guard officials said.

Real-time threats and situations were simulated for all the participating agencies to assess their preparedness and update SOPs. Enhanced security measures were instituted through security patrols at sea.

The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy aircraft undertook extensive surveillance at sea off the coast of Odisha.

No seaward intrusion was observed in the state and all the attacks of Red Force were neutralised by the Blue Force.

The exercise was instrumental in strengthening close coordination among coastal security stakeholders, developing progressive synergy, validating SOPS, identification of grey areas, and in the enhancement of coastal security mechanisms for the state of Odisha, the Coast Guard said.