Hyderabad, July 14^th: Security was tightened along the coast, particularly at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada port areas following an intelligence bureau (IB) alert about the possible sneaking in of terrorists through the sea route in South India. The district police and marine police stations have been asked to be on their toes. The state government has also taken a decision to speed up the works relating to the coastal security scheme to prevent any infiltration attempt.

As a security measure the authorities have taken up a drive of issuing ID cards to the fisherman and compulsory registration of sea vessels. The IB has asked the police officers to keep a tab on the movement of all the strangers. The surveillance in the sea has also been increased. Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Nellore coasts are considered highly vulnerable by the cops as several vital installations are located there. Security was also beefed up at the gas supply systems and pipelines in the coastal area.