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Security arrangements reviewed

PUDUCHERRY: Chief Secretary Naini Jayaseelan on Monday convened a high-level meeting of officers from Police Department, Fisheries Department and the Coast Guard to review security arrangements in Puducherry in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks.

The meeting discussed ways to streamline coastal security in Puducherry and Karaikal, better surveillance mechanism in town and the need to have better coordination among different agencies, official sources told The Hindu.

The Coast Guard station here was asked to get in touch with its headquarters to ascertain whether there was any security threat to the region and steps to be taken by the administration to put in place a proper coastal security mechanism, they said.

In the meeting, Coast Guard representatives appealed to the government to speed up the dredging of Ariankuppam River mouth to operate bigger vessels.

At present, the maritime agency operated an interceptor craft and a boat from its station. The agency had plans to operate more boats once the dredging process was complete, they said.

The Fisheries Department was asked to provide a list of fishing boats that were registered and those that were not. Statistics available with the Fisheries Department revealed that a total of 110 mechanised wooden boats and 96 fibre mechanised boats were registered in Puducherry.

However, a majority of the traditional crafts were not registered despite the department issuing a circular to the fishermen, officials said.

The Police Department wanted to evolve a mechanism to have a better coordination between all the agencies.

They also suggested setting up of a crisis management group to deal with situation arising out of untoward incidents.

Sources said that the meeting discussed ways to strengthen security arrangements in hotels. Police suggested that the municipalities should make it mandatory for hotels to provide security and surveillance cameras.

The municipalities should get clearance from the Police and the Traffic Departments while reviewing licence to hotels as in cities such as Delhi, they said.

Home Minister E. Valsaraj said that he had convened a meeting of all senior police officers and representatives of other agencies on Tuesday to review security measures.

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