Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar inaugurated, on April 19, 2022, the 8th edition of two-day National Level Pollution Response Exercise, ‘NATPOLREX-VIII’, being conducted by Indian Coast Guard (ICG) off Mormugao harbour, Goa.
- 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 SACEP 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 preparedness of the resource agencies as well as stakeholders to meet any marine spill disaster at sea.
- The event is being attended by more than 85 participants from 50 agencies, including 29 observers from 22 friendly foreign countries & International Organisations and two Coast Guard ships from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
- 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.
