New Delhi: The Indian Coast Guard on Monday carried out a major security drill along the west coast.

The drill christened ‘Operation Sajag’ also involved various stakeholders, the defence ministry said.

A total of 118 ships including those from Customs, Marine Police, Ports and the Indian Navy participated in the drill.

“‘Operation Sajag’, a drill involving all stakeholders of the coastal security construct, was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard along the west coast on September 18,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The drill facilitates revalidation of the coastal security mechanism and bring awareness among the fishermen at sea,” it said.

“During the drill, extensive checking and verification of documents and crew passes of all fishing boats, barges and craft at sea was undertaken,” the ministry said.

It said in order to strengthen the coastal security construct, a slew of measures have been incorporated ranging from issuance of biometric cards for the fishermen to colour coding of fishing boats.

“Biometric card readers have also been issued to security agencies. Besides monitoring of dhows, island security and community interaction programmes have been institutionalised under the coastal security construct,” it said.

PTI