Sagar Kavach Coastal Security Exercise and Matla Abhiyan Exercise held: Key Facts

The Indian Navy conducted a two-day coastal security exercise called “Sagar Kavach”. The exercise was conducted by Indian Navy along with Indian Coastal Guard. It is a half-yearly exercise to check coastal security mechanism and validate Standard Operating Procedure.

Highlights

Around 50 patrol crafts of the Coast Guard and 20 ships of the Indian Navy participated in the exercise. Apart from the Indian Navy and the Coastal Guard, the other forces that participated in the exercise are as follows

• Intelligence Bureau
• Central Industrial Security Force
• Marine Enforcement Wing
• Fisheries Department
• Cochin Port
• Coastal District Administration
• Coast Guard

During the exercise, the participants were divided into two teams red and blue. The red team simulated the terrorist activities attempting to infiltrate coastal areas. The Blue team carried out Coastal Security Surveillance to neutralise the infiltration attempts.

About the Exercise

The exercise was conducted along the coastal areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Matla Abhiyan Exercise

On October 9, 2020, Matla Abhiyan Exercise was conducted. The Matla Abhiyan Exercise is a five day coastal security exercise that was conducted by the Indian Navy in Matla river. Two Indian boats undertook the patrol in the Sunderban Delta during the exercise. The sailors interacted with the local fishermen spreading awareness about the coastal security, marine police stations.

Matla River

The river forms a wide estuary in and around the Sundarbans.

Exercise Sea Vigil

It is coastal defence exercise held by Indian Navy and the Coastal Guards. It was held the first time in 2019. It is a part of the tri-service exercise TROPEX. TROPEX is Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise. The exercise was held to check coastal safety measures to avoid tragedies like those of 2008 Mumbai attacks. The Sea Vigil was conducted on both eastern and western coast lines.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2020