Lack of cohesion among maritime agencies led to Mumbai attacks: Navy Chief

New Delhi, Dec 2 (ANI): The Mumbai terror attacks took place due to a lack of coordination between maritime security agencies, resulting in the death of 166 people in November 2008, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said on Thursday.

Pakistan based terrorist outfit Lahkar-e-Toiba attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008 in a coordinated manner killing 166 people.

Talking to media persons ahead of Navy Day, Admiral Verma further said that maritime security had come a very long way post-26/11.

The Navy Chief said: "Since November 2008 several initiatives have been taken by the government to strengthen security of coastal areas against the threat of non state actors from sea."

He said one of the most significant achievements has been the integration of all maritime stakeholders, including several state and central agencies into the coastal security matrix.

The Indian Navy after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks has established four Joint Operation Centres in all naval commands and all coastal security operations are now coordinated from the JOC.

"In addition, the state marine police and other agencies such as customs, Intelligence Bureau, ports etc are also networked with these centers. Besides the four JOCs at Mumbai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam and Port Blair, each coastal district also has its own operational center for coordinating activities in their districts," Admiral Verma said.

The Navy has undertaken awareness campaign among fishermen community all along the coast in order to deter any 26/11 type of attack in future.

"Till date more than 90 awareness campaigns have been undertaken. This is an ongoing endeavour, and all coastal districts will be visited regularly by naval teams," Admiral Verma said.

He said that coastal security initiatives are going in right direction, and added that the Navy and Coast Guard have launched a number of joint coastal operations on the seaboards and island territories when information on increased threat is available. By Praful Kumar Singh (ANI)