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Five more stations to come up by 2007

Special Correspondent

Pondicherry: Director- General of Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Vice-Admiral A. K. Singh said here on Friday that five more coast guard stations would come up by March 2007. He told newsmen at the Pondicherry Coast Guard station after commissioning it at Kakkayanthope village on Veerampattinam road near here that while Kerala would have one station Gujarat and Maharashtra would have two each. It had also been proposed to establish half a dozen stations between 2007 and 2012 in several other parts.

He said that the ICG would get everything ready at least 18 months ahead of the setting up of the Sedhu Samudram Project.

He said that the ICG`s concentration was on adequate manpower, coast guard stations and ensuring assets like aircrafts and other facilities. Necessary proposals had been submitted to the government in this regard.

Vice -Admiral said that the coast guard station in Pondicherry would come up in its full-fledged form on an extent of nearly 18 acres of land provided by Pondicherry Administration in Veerampattinam village. He said that the community interactive programme adopted by the ICG had been of help to associate the fishermen with the purpose of establishing the coast guard stations.

India was the third largest country in so far as fisheries was concerned. There were 3.14 lakh fishing boats in the country, which was more than the number in the U.K. and Pakistan. The number of fishermen was also large and the ICG was rescuing two to three fishermen every week from the hazardous condition.

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