Steering skillfully through the treacherous waters at the confluence of Hooghly river and Bay of Bengal, Coast Guard deputy commandant Shruti Mohan Jainpur is keeping a close eye from her hovercraft on lakhs of devotees who have congregated at the Gangasagar mela.
"It is amazing, it is something that brings the best out of you," Jainpur, who is posted at the force's Haldia Port station, said about her experience in the Coast Guard.
Deputy Commandant Sneha Kathayat, another hovercraft pilot posted at Haldia Coast Guard station, joined the force in 2011 and has been serving on the seas since 2015, having graduated from the first batch along with three other women.
Jainpur, only child of a retired BARC scientist, has taken to the seas for Gangasagar security for the first time.
When the ICG opened up combat posts for the female officers, she had volunteered for the sea service.
"Army uniforms fascinated me since childhood and I wanted to join the forces. I joined Coast Guard in 2013 as an officer and was trained in administration and logistics," Jainpur, who did her BTech in information technology from Chennai, said.
The Mumbai girl, who has been commanding a hovercraft since June 2018, also said she is thrilled to have got the opportunity to work for security, search and rescue operations of Coast Guard at the Gangasagar Mela, one of the largest annual religious congregations in the country.
Devotees from across the country take holy dip at Sagar Island, situated at the confluence of Hoogly river and the Bay of Bengal, during the annual Gangasagar Mela on Makar Sankranti.
The Coast Guard is the only armed force in the country to have so far allowed women officers in operations service.
"We are treated equally, we take up challenges and responsibilities equally. We are held responsible and accountable," Jainpur, who has so far completed nearly 160 hours as a pilot, said.
"It is helping us break social norms and see the world in a different way," said the proud officer, whose mother is a homemaker.
Kathayat, from the path breaker first batch of ICG's women pilots, said that the Gangasagar mela is an "excellent occasion to prove a person's worth and capabilities." She has manned hovercraft for the mela on previous occasions, too.
"I am the first from my family to have joined the forces and enjoying every bit of the experience," the pilot, daughter of school teacher parents at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, said.
The Coast Guard has placed a sizeable number of its assets at Gangasagar to ensure foolproof security at the Gangasagar Mela, DIG, chief staff officer (operations) of Coast Guard of North East region, I J Singh told newspersons here.
"We have stationed an offshore patrol vessel, two fast patrol vessels, three hovercraft and two helicopters for security, search and rescue operations," he said.
Two Dornier aircraft are also making regular sorties over the mela site, Singh said.
The force is also maintaining electronic surveillance at the mela site, he said.
"We have a radar station in Haldia which monitors entire coast of Haldia and Sagar Island," Singh said.
He said that movements at the mela site were being monitored live 24 hours a day through the surveillance system, which is part of the coastal security network.
"While the 107-metre long offshore patrol vessel ICGS Sujay, with a helicopter on board, is keeping a watch in the deep sea for any threat from the seaward side, the fast patrol vessels and hovercraft are keeping a closer watch at the bathing site to ensure that no untoward incident or accident happens," he said.
The Coast Guard has also deployed a life-saving rapid action team, comprising divers with rubber gemini boats, at the mela site to thwart any threat emanating from the sea or to save people from drowning in case of any exigency.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)