Indian Navy’s Bengal area has four more capable patrol crafts in Kolkata, said Commodore Rituraj Sahu at the press conference on the eve of the 51st Indian Navy Day on December 4.
Naval Officer-in-Charge (NOIC) Commodore Rituraj Sahu said two new fast interceptor crafts would be inducted in the Indian Navy’s Bengal area which will take its total fleet strength in Kolkata to eight.
Addressing a press conference at INS Netaji Subhas, Indian Navy’s Bengal area base headquarters in the city, Commodore Sahu said, “The Navy has two fast interceptor crafts, which have been recently inducted and we hope that two more will join in the future. For any other effort that is necessary for the coastline or on the shores of West Bengal, we brought in surface ships or naval aircraft from Visakhapatnam (the Eastern Naval Command headquarters).”
Asked to comment on the steps taken by the Indian Navy in coastal areas of West Bengal, which have been affected by many cyclones in the last few years, Commodore Sahu said, “We have seen that lower coastal areas have been affected. Teams from the Indian Navy have been most forthcoming. We had also prepared many aides and were ready to deploy our teams such as flood rescue and diving teams, which were deployed in the Fraserganj area and East Midnapore districts. We are geared up for all such missions. Based on the requirements of the state government, we quickly react and take up the challenge.”
The Navy Day commemorates the audacious and devastating attack carried out by the Indian Naval forces’ missile boats on Pakistan naval warships and Karachi port on December 4, 1971, under ‘Operation Trident’.
PIC Source : PIB Kolkata