Port Blair, July 7: The Indian Coast Guard Component of ANC conducted an IMO Level-I course for various stake holders responsible for Pollution Response Operations in the A&N Islands. The course was conducted by Coast Guard Pollution Response Team (A&N) from 03-07 Jul 23 at Port Blair. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG), being the Central Coordinating Agency for combating oil pollution in the Maritime Zones of India, conducts the course in line with the guidelines of OPRC Convention 1992 to which India is a signatory. Any oil spill in the seas around the A & N islands will have severe environmental impact on the pristine marine ecosystem and would adversely affect the dependent economic/ tourism activities. Accordingly, the IMO level courses are structured and conducted by the Indian Coast Guard to provide effective training to all stakeholders for coordinated response operations against any marine oil spills at sea.

The training was attended by 26 participants, which also included officials from the Dept of Environment, Port Management Board, CISF and Police Marine Force (PMF) apart from personnel of ICG. The course curriculum provided the participants an insight into the various aspects of pollution response in terms of awareness, preparedness, response, legal regulations and practical exposure on handling of pollution response equipment. Certificates were presented to all the participants on successful completion of the IMO Level I training.