Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju inaugurated the ICG Station, Krishnapatnam that would also facilitate search and rescue in the cyclone-prone coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, besides sprucing up the security structure.
"The coast of Andhra Pradesh, being cyclone prone, had witnessed a number of incidents in past resulting in loss of life and property. This newly commissioned ICGS Krishnapatnam would facilitate search and rescue operations towards saving lives," Raju said during the commissioning ceremony.
Commandant T R K Rao has been appointed as the Commanding Officer (CO) of the Station, which will function under the ICG Regional Headquarter at Visakhapatam.
Director General ICG Vice Admiral M P Muralidharan and various other senior Coast Guard officials were present during the commissioning ceremony.
ICG is undertaking a large-scale modernisation of its existing infrastructure and is adding new assets and setting up stations along the national coastline, officials said.
For conducting search and rescue and other operations along the coastline, the force is also getting a number of aircraft and helicopters.
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Recently, the Coast Guard commissioned a station at the strategically important Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea.
The force is also in the process of setting up a chain of static sensors with Automatic Identification System (AIS) along the national coastline to enable effective monitoring of shipping and fishing traffic.
An ICG air station is also on the anvil at Minicoy island near Lakshadweep, they said.