INDIA. Mumbai: The MPs, MLAs, MLCs and government officials of Maharashtra watched operational capabilities during a “Day at Sea” organised by the Western Naval Command demonstrated off Mumbai on Thursday.
The event was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of creating greater sea consciousness amongst all sections of society, especially in coastal states.
125 guests and officials, including 25 MLAs, embarked on frontline warships of the Western Fleet, INS Chennai, INS Visakhapatnam and INS Teg. The programme provided the guests with a good opportunity to witness day-to-day naval operations and life onboard Indian Navy ships, an official statement issued here read.
Highlights of the day included exercises such as a simulated attack by Fast Attack Craft, an air power demonstration, search and rescue by Chetak helicopters, a sonar dunk operation by a Sea King helicopter, underway replenishment and personnel transfer at sea. A submarine demonstration was also conducted to expose the dignitaries to all facets of naval operations at sea.
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Advocate Rahul Narwekar, Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Dada Patil, other ministers and MLAs embarked on the ships.
Senior officials of the command interacted with all visiting dignitaries and provided them with an overview of operations undertaken by the Indian Navy with an emphasis on threats and challenges the nation faces in the maritime domain.
The “Day at Sea” was intended to provide legislators and government officials an understanding of the Navy’s crucial role in national security and nation-building, exposing them to the rigours and challenges of a life at sea.
The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for all naval forces in the Arabia Sea and western parts of the Indian Ocean and the naval establishments on the west coast of India.
The Western Naval Command (WNC) is the sword arm of the Indian Navy, and naval operations conducted on the western seaboard are central to the outcome of any conflict at sea against Pakistan.
The Western Fleet is the two-star-level operational formation of the WNC. It utilises Mumbai and INS Kadamba, a large naval base constructed at Karwar (Karnataka) under Project Seabird in 2005, as its home ports.
INS Shikra (formerly INS Kunjali) is a Naval air station. The fleet at the WNC is based under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area (FOMA) and provides naval defence in the sensitive north Arabian Sea adjacent to Pakistan.
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