Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

FBV suggests setting up task force

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Forum for Better Visakha, a coalition of NGOs and concerned citizens, suggested constitution of a Task Force, with representatives from the Navy, the Coast Guard, Revenue and Police, Fire Service Departments, Central Industrial Security Force, to ensure coordinated action in planning, monitoring and enforcing surveillance over the long coast, the city and its environs. As the Government might not be in a position to exercise the surveillance, civil society, especially the fishermen community should be involved in this.Speaking to media persons here, E.A.S. Sarma, convener of the Forum and C.S. Rao, president of praja spandana, recalled the ghastly incidents in Mumbai, and said Visakhapatnam was equally vulnerable to such attacks.

The Task Force should tap intelligence inputs available from both the State and Central Government agencies in its day to day functioning, they said.

Like Mumbai, Visakhapatnam is also a coastal city with a number of strategic installations like Eastern Naval Command, Port etc and economic assets like Steel Plant, Petroleum Refineries and hence its security assumed greater importance.They made a specific reference to the storage and movement of hazardous chemicals like ammonium nitrate and stressed the need for greater caution and restraint in this aspect because of the danger if it got into wrong hands. Subjecting containers at the port to X-ray screening to ascertain contents, provision of CCTV camera facilities at crowded places and upgrading internal security at star hotels were some of the suggestions given by the FBV members.

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