Defence Secretary has inaugurated the 8th edition of two-day National Level Pollution Response Exercise, ‘NATPOLREX-VIII’, being conducted by Indian Coast Guard (ICG) off Mormugao harbour, Goa.
What is it?
- 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.
- 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.
About SACEP –
- South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) is an intergovernmental organization. It is headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- It was established in 1982 by the governments of South Asia to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of the environment in the region.
- The members of SACEP includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- SACEP also acts as the Secretariat for the South Asian Seas Programme which comes under the purview of UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme.
- Since its creation, SACEP has implemented a number of projects and programmes in the areas of environment education, environment legislation, biodiversity, air pollution, and the protection and management of the coastal environment.
- The Malé Declaration on control and prevention of air pollution and its likely trans boundary effects for South Asia is another significant efforts which encourages intergovernmental cooperation to combat the trans boundary air pollution problem.
.png)