Bhubaneswar, Jan 24: In a first of its kind initiative, Odisha Police will hoist the national flag at 10 uninhabited islands on the Odisha coast on the occasion of Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Friday, DGP Y.B. Khurania said: "For the first time, the Odisha Police team will go to 10 uninhabited islands on the Odisha coast and unfurl the Tricolour on the occasion of Republic Day celebrations.”

Khurania also stated that this will be done as per the instructions of the Prime Minister.

"Our team has already completed a survey by visiting 10 such Islands. Arrangements have been made to fly the national flag at those islands," he added.

Meanwhile, DGP Khurania on Friday held a threadbare discussion on various aspects related to coastal security during a meeting with Donny Michael, the Additional Director General of Coast Guard for Eastern Seaboard.

The DGP after the meeting told the mediapersons that the Odisha Police have prepared various new plans to strengthen the coastal security along Odisha coast.

"We are planning to intensify coastal patrolling, increase aerial surveillance and set up a command-and-control system," added Khurania.

He also noted that special inputs related to coastal security were shared by both of them with each other during the discussions. The Odisha DGP stated that they also held discussions on how the coast guard can assist Odisha police in coastal security.

"It has been decided during the discussions that we will constitute a board of officers comprising officials from both coast guard and Odisha police. They will carry out surveys of all the areas along the Odisha coast. They will recommend to us the type of boats required for patrolling in different areas along the coast," said Khurania.

The Odisha DGP said that after getting the survey report, arrangements will be made to provide the particular type of boats, as recommended by the board of officers, to the marine police stations in the state.

"We also held discussions on the lack of adequate manpower for coastal security. We have a scheme for the deployment of retired Indian Navy and the Coast Guard personnel at the marine police stations. We shared this information with the ADG of Coast Guard. We hope that coast guard officials would be available for deployment at the marine police stations after retirement in the future,” the police officer said. (IANS)

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