INDIA. Mumbai: On Tuesday, Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar inaugurated the eighth edition of the two-day National Level Pollution Response Exercise, “NATPOLREX-VIII,” hosted by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) off Mormugao harbour in Goa.
In addition to NATPOLREX, the ICG is hosting a capacity-building professional training course in Marine Oil Response and Preparedness in Chennai through April 29 for 45 international participants from 18 countries, including member states of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
The marine spill preparedness exercise was inaugurated by the Defence Secretary in the presence of Secretary, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences Dr. M Ravichandran, ICG Director General VS Pathania, Director General, South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) Dr. Mohmed Masumur Rahman, and various senior dignitaries from Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, National Disaster Response Force, India Meteorological Department, Indian Navy, and State Pollution Control Board, Goa.
The event is being attended by over 85 participants from 50 agencies, including 29 observers from 22 friendly foreign countries and International Organisations and two Coast Guard ships from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The objective of NATPOLREX-VIII is to enhance the preparedness and response capability of all the stakeholders in combating marine spills. It aims at validating the procedures and guidelines as contained in the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP) at the national and regional levels under the aegis of the SACEP Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to which India is a member state.
During the exercise, various components of NOSDCP were invoked to validate and improve the contingency plans and evaluate the preparedness of the resource agencies as well as stakeholders to meet any marine spill disaster at sea.
13 ships and 10 aircraft from the Indian Coast Guard, one C-131 aircraft from the Indian Air Force, two ships from SACEP member states Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, one ONGC Offshore Supply vessel (OSV), assets from the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), and tugs from the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) participated in the exercise.
Side sweeping arms, deployment of booms and skimmers, and streaming of single ship operated containment cum recovery systems were used to show containment cum marine spill recovery.
The exercise is being coordinated by ICG encompassing assets from resource agencies and stakeholders including Ports, Oil Handling Agencies, Coastal States/Union Territories, and other resource agencies. It comprises a two-day program featuring table-top exercise, a pollution response workshop on marine Oil, and HNS spills followed by exercise at sea.
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