New Delhi, Nov. 12: A new system for coastal security has been evolved since 26/11 with all 15 agencies involved taking an integrated approach instead of acting independently, the government’s top security managers have concluded at a meeting to review measures since the terror strike on Mumbai last November.

The meeting chaired by defence minister A.K. Antony and attended, among others, by national security adviser M.K. Narayanan and chief of naval staff Admiral Nirmal Verma, assessed a series of drills carried out by the navy and coastal states.

It monitored the purchase of weapons and surveillance systems worth Rs 6,000 crore for the coast guard and heard presentations from the navy and from the Union home ministry on the establishment of coastal police stations.

“From a totally unco-ordinated approach in the pre-Mumbai attack period, a definite shift has now taken place in our security orientation, the basic principle of which is integrated approach,” a source quoted Antony as telling officers from 15 agencies and ministries who attended the meeting chaired by the defence minister.

But, the source said, the navy has emphasised that although it has been appointed the nodal agency on coastal security, it has neither the command nor the wherewithal to singularly monitor all the measures.

Admiral Verma gave details of intensified patrolling and surveillance along with the coast guard, coastal police and Customs.

Antony told the navy and the coast guard, after hearing of their experience in dealing with state governments, that “a Mumbai-type of situation will not be tolerated at any cost”, a defence ministry source said.

The minister asked the navy and the coast guard to take a fresh look at the coastal security grid and “present a new plan to plug the deficiencies”, the source said.

Agencies and organisations involved in coastal security range from the directorate of lighthouses and lightships, to the ministry of agriculture (fisheries), port trusts and state police forces.

Admiral Verma told the meeting that in September-October 2009 the agencies carried out Operation Rakshak during which people associated with 165 merchant ships and 259 fishing vessels were “interrogated”. In July, the coast guard held a drill name Barricade along the Tamil Nadu coast in which, for the first time, 13 agencies were roped in.

The navy has carried out 11 joint exercises with the police forces of coastal states. An additional nine exercises were taken up along the west coast.

Cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar said the new system can be effective only with “combined action of the navy, the coast guard and the states”. He said the flow of information that has begun was giving results. He asked the agencies to look closely at how to deal with fishermen and to cut down on response time.