Five years after ambitious plans were made to thwart sea-borne terror attacks in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, the Paradip port in Odisha has been brought under a marine commando security net.
The port is one of the most important and sensitive sea cargo facilities in eastern part of India and is located near the confluence of river Mahanadi in the Bay of Bengal.
A commando trained squad of thirty Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel have begun patrolling in the off-shore sea waters that touch the facility.
Officials said the port authorities had recently got the CISF a fast patrol vessel which is now being used by the commandos of the paramilitary to go on sea-borne on surveillance missions.
The personnel, however, only patrol the coast areas while securing the farther waters is the task of the Coast Guard followed by Indian Navy.
This is the first marine commando squad of CISF which has gone sea-borne even as it guards about a dozen of other ports like the JNPT in Mumbai and Mundra in Gujarat.
Enhancement of the coastal security has been an important subject since the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks were launched from the sea after terrorists sneaked in the western metropolis through this route.
