By IANS,
Kolkata : A large number of containers handled daily at ports pose a great security threat to the country, a naval officer said Friday.
“About 96 percent of the country’s trade is sea-borne. A very large number of containers move in and out on a daily basis and nobody knows what is in them,” said Commodore Brian A. Thomas, Naval Officer-in-charge (NOIC) of West Bengal.
“Containers are the ‘Trojan Horse’ of the 21st century. Bombs can be easily put in them and nobody would know.”
“Sea, unlike land, cannot be closed but only terrorised. The restrictive issue relevant to borders and neighbours do not apply to seas. The vessels are from one country, registered in another country and have people from different countries on board.
“They carry cargo to and from some other country and if any crime is committed it becomes very difficult to catch hold of somebody,” said Thomas, while addressing a seminar here organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The fishing community, considered to be the asset in the costal security set up, is a big challenge as it is difficult to make traditional fishermen understand what they need to do and what not to do, he said.
“Another major issue is the lack of co-ordination among multiple central and state players dealing with maritime security. In all, there are 28 agencies involved in maritime security in West Bengal. We are working on it,” the NOIC said.
There are six marine police stations in West Bengal, which have around 250 km of coast line with 730 coastal villages. Two such police stations are fully operational while the rest are partly operational. Eight more police stations are in the pipe line, said Thomas.