Date:29/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/29/stories/2008112958320300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

A wake-up call

Santosh Patnaik

VISAKHAPATNAM: The terror attack on Mumbai choosing the sea route is a wake-up call for the security apparatus of Visakhapatnam -- a strategically located city in the eastern seaboard.

The vulnerability of the city is a point to be pondered by all agencies in the background of seizure of over hundred mechanised boats over the past few months from Sri Lankan fishermen, who intruded into the Indian terriotery to catch tuna. Tuna is much in demand among seafood lovers of Japan and the United States.

The violation of norms stipulated by Letter of Permission trawlers by their Taiwanese owners in connivance with their Indian partners by not having employment visas for the foreign crew is also perceived as a big security lapse. On the other hand, the Lankan fishermen are entering the Indian waters with clinical precision from Rameswaram and going up to Visakhapatnam, Kalinagapatnam, Gopalapatnam and Paradip to poach tuna.

Serious threat

“Such activities coning the security agencies naturally pose a serious threat in the light of intelligence reports that the LTTE is supplying sophisticated weapons to the Maoists. People coming in such vessels may indulge in gun-running," a senior police official told The Hindu.

The location of headquarters of submarine arm and marine commandos, the existence of Eastern Naval Command’s main base and the proposed futuristic naval base near Rambilli, second unit of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre coming up at Achyutapuram, the country’s premier public sector port and the ready-to-be commissioned private port at Gangavaram and several other vital installations also may attract the terror networks to the city in search of `soft targets.’

“The threat posed by LoC vessels and Sri Lankan fishermen should be viewed seriously,” J.M.N. Gordien Kagoo, Managing Director, East Coast Tuna Fisheries Pvt. Ltd., said. The marine industry feels that there should be coordinated action among the Coast Guard, Customs, Marine Police and the intelligence agencies to keep a tab on smuggling and poaching activity.