PANAJI: The government has constituted the Goa State Maritime Security Committee (GSMSC), headed by the Chief Secretary, to review timely implementation of various proposals pertaining to maritime coastal security.
The committee will also ensure effective co-ordination among various state and central government agencies and other stakeholders like Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard, on vital maritime issues such as marine pollution control, fisheries development, etc.
It may be recalled that the state cabinet had recently cleared setting up of this committee, on the lines of West Bengal and Puducherry, after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs directed all the coastal states to set up the State Maritime Board from their security point of view. As Goa had only one minor port, the state government sought permission from the Centre to set up a maritime committee instead of a maritime board for the state.
The committee will maintain flawless security along the Goan coast.
A related notification issued by Captain James Braganza, Captain of Ports, the department of inland waterways names the secretary for ports as vice-chairman of the committee. Captain of Ports is the convenor of the committee.
The members on the panel are the Flag Officer Commanding, Goa Naval Area; the District Commandant, Coast Guard, Goa; the DIG Police, the chairman of the Mormugao Port Trust, the director of the state disaster management cell, the Commissioner of Customs at Goa, the director of Intelligence Bureau at Goa, the Commissioner Special Bureau at Goa, the chairman of Goa State Pollution Control Board, the director of fisheries; the Superintendents of Police for North and South Goa, the Superintendent of Coastal Marine Police, the director of fire services, the marine engineer ship surveyor at Captain of Ports, the deputy Captain of Ports, the port health officer, the secretary of Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association, the president of the Goa Barge Owners Association, and the Senior Superintendent (Workshop/ Traffic-RND).
The committee will also have the responsibility of reviewing the security arrangement and regulatory aspects of the coastal and riverine zone of Goa and recommending such actions as necessary in the interest of the maritime security.