अंडमान में यॉट मरीना के विरोध में धरने पर बैठे प्रेस क्लब का तम्बू ग़ायब

Hi, friends! Here's sharing my recent news story published in the "Info India", the islands' first colour Hindi Daily, with you all. Enjoy the read and do let me know of your views on the same, as well. Cheers! 

पोर्ट ब्लेयर, 26 सितम्बर/- आज विश्व पर्यटन दिवस है! द्वीपसमू,ह में प्रति वर्ष इस दिन को विशेष कार्यक्रमों के आयोजन के साथ राज्य स्तर पर मनाया जाता है! द्वीप प्रशासन की ओर से इस अवसर पर हर वर्ष द्वीपों में पर्यटन के क्षेत्र में प्रशासन द्वारा चलाई जा रही विभिन्न विकासात्मक गतिविधियों एवं कार्यक्रमों के सम्बन्ध में सूचनाएँ जारी की जाती हैं! इस वर्ष, इस अवसर पर प्रशासन द्वारा द्वीपों में पर्यटन के क्षेत्र में तेज़ी से विकास करने के उद्देश्य से 10 जून को मलेशियन कंपनी, रीकॉंन  पी.एम्.एम्. प्राइवेट लिमिटेड के साथ समझौते के रूप मेंऐतिहासिक वाइपर द्वीप में शुरू की गयी 50 बर्थों वाली यॉट मरीना और 30 बिस्तरवाले थ्री स्टार होटल वाली परियोजना एक अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण कदम के रूप में सामने आई है! विरोध की पुरज़ोर आवाज़ें उठने के बावजूद, द्वीपों में पर्यटन के विकास को विशाल स्तर पर और तेज़ करने को प्रतिबद्ध प्रशासन ने वाइपर द्वीप पर इस महत्वाकाँक्षी परियोजना को हरी झंडी देने में देर नहीं की! 

तम्बू के ग़ायब होने के बाद के ताज़े दृश्य में सुभाष चन्द्र प्रेस क्लब के महासचिव, श्री श्याम सिंह यादव

इस अहम् परियोजना का विरोध करने वाली विभिन्न संस्थाओं में से एक दल है पोर्ट ब्लेयर का सुभाष चन्द्र प्रेस क्लब, जिसके कार्यकर्ता और सदस्य पिछले क़रीब आठ महीनों से नियमित रूप से इस परियोजना का घोर विरोध करते हुए सचिवालय के मुख्य द्वार के पास बने मैदान पर लगातार धरना प्रदर्शन किये जा रहे हैं! इस वर्ष 5 मार्च को शुरू किये गए इस धरने के पाँच दिन के भीतर ही प्रशासन की ओर से कुछ बड़े अधिकारियों ने उनसे इस सम्बन्ध में बातचीत की थी, परन्तु अपनी माँगें न माने जाने के कारण, ये लोग तब से लेकर आज तकछुट्टी के दिनों को छोड़, रोज़ाना सुबह से शाम तक यहाँ धरना प्रदर्शन करते आ रहे हैं!

इस बीच, अचानक हुए एक घटनाक्रम में, रोज़ की ही तरह, जब इस मंगलवार को ये लोग धरना-स्थल पर पहुँचे, तो इन्होंने वहाँ लगे अपने तम्बू को ग़ायब पाया! ताज्जुब एवं रोष से भरे सुभाष चन्द्र प्रेस क्लब के महासचिव, श्री श्याम सिंह यादव ने तुरंत अबरडीन थाने में इस मामले की शिक़ायत दर्ज़ कराई! पुलिस ने मौक़े पर पहुँच सचिवालय के मुख्य द्वार पर तैनात सुरक्षा गार्डों से पूछताछ की तो गार्डों ने 24 सितम्बर को शाम क़रीब छः बजे से रात नौ बजे के बीच तम्बू के ग़ायब होने की घटना घटी होने की आशंका ज़ाहिर की, जब रोज़ाना की ही तरह, शाम छः बजे अपना तम्बू वहीं छोड़कर ये प्रदर्शनकारी वहाँ से जा चुके थे!

तम्बू ग़ायब होने से पहले धरने के दृश्य में सांसद

प्रेस क्लब के महासचिव श्री यादव ने इस अप्रत्याशित घटना के पीछे प्रशासन पर आरोप लगाते हुए सवाल खड़ा किया है कि पिछले आठ महीनों से जिस तम्बू को कोई आँच नहीं आई, उसे अचानक से सचिवालय जैसे सुरक्षित इलाक़े से आसमान खा गया या ज़मीन निगल गयी! उनका कहना है कि उनका यह विरोध-प्रदर्शन सीधे प्रशासन के ख़िलाफ़ है, इसलिए प्रशासन ने ही तम्बू पर हाथ साफ़ किया है! इस पर, पुलिस का कहना है कि सचिवालय के सुरक्षाकर्मी वहाँ उनके तम्बू की सुरक्षा के लिए नहीं, बल्कि सचिवालय की सुरक्षा के लिए तैनात रहते हैं! अपने साज़-ओ-सामान की रखवाली करना उनका स्वयं का काम है!

फ़िलहाल, आज बिना तम्बू के ही उनका धरना-प्रदर्शन बाकायदे जारी रहा! गौरतलब है कि इस मामले में इस प्रेस क्लब को द्वीपों के सांसद का भी पूरा समर्थन प्राप्त है! अतः अब देखना यह है कि इस सारे प्रकरण के बारे में सांसद की क्या प्रतिक्रिया रहती है और आखिरकार, अचानक ग़ायब हुए इस तम्बू की गुत्थी कब और कैसे सुलझती है!

TAPPING ANDAMAN’S TOURISM POTENTIAL

“I came, I saw and I was enchanted…!”

Smith Island, near Diglipur, North Andaman

“I came, I saw and I was enchanted…!” Almost every tourist who lands on the Floating Paradise on Earth in the Bay of Bengal, the serene Andaman & Nicobar Islands, invariably exclaims in delightful wonderment, on the lines of renowned novelist, Daniel Defoe’s iconic “Robinson Crusoe”. Such endearing is the tranquil and exotic beauty of these historic Indian coral islands that have been the mute witnesses of the great Indian struggle for independence.

Apart from the bountiful richness of natural beauty and freshness enveloping the entire archipelago in the form of turquoise blue waters of the Andaman Sea, the distinctive vegetation, fascinatingly hilly terrain housing the rich expanse of tropical rain forests and some of the world’s rarest and the oldest aboriginal tribes, the glorious history of the territory’s pivotal role in the great Indian struggle for Independence as a gargantuan penitentiary for the intrepid freedom fighters of Mother India, is the USP of these islands.

Evidently, Tourism has always been and continues to be the prime industry in the islands, although, still, in a budding stage. It is something that not only the islands but the entire nation can vastly benefit from, in the future too, as one of the most sought-after tourism destinations across the globe. The diverse and endemic flora and fauna of these islands add another inimitably charming dimension to the tourism prospects in the territory.

Middle Strait Jetty, South Andaman

However, if the immense tourism potential of these islands has to be tapped to the T, the local administration in absolute synchronization with the central govt., has to make lasting, concerted endevours towards making the optimum use of the resources that the archipelago generously offers. And for that to transpire, the various govt. agencies have to overcome the long-standing paucity of intent towards achieving the ambitious aim of making it a celebrated tourism destination in the world.

Meticulous planning and its dedicated implementation to develop multifarious beaches and islands in the territory other than Havelock and a couple more, exploring the splendid water sports potential and combining advanced technology with the natural resources is the leading requisite for the same. Implementation of strategy by way of public and private sector participation in a bid to bring about standard professionalism in the nascent hospitality industry, which is an elementary requirement for developing the tourism industry in the islands, can work wonders towards tapping its tourism potential.

North Bay 

In a nutshell, a sincere, eco-friendly, well- devised and well-implemented stratagem is sure to help evolve these phenomenal islands as a leading tourism destination across the globe sooner than expected and the territory can proudly revive and bask in the glorious days of the “Paris of the East”.

SAVE THE JARAWA TO SAVE HUMAN RACE

Mother Nature Beckons – Save the Jarawa

The Jarawas on an elegant fishing spree

One year after the death of the last member of the Bo tribe of the Andaman Islands (January 26), the UK based International NGO Survival International, working for tribal peoples’ rights worldwide, has warned yet again that the neighbouring Jarawa tribe is also in alarming danger.

Boa Sr, the last member of a unique aboriginal tribe - Bo, died last January, aged around 85, and with her death a unique part of human civilization, culture, society and value systems, is now just a memory.

Late Boa Sr

The Jarawa tribe number about 365 people, and fiercely resisted contact with outsiders until 1998. These largely un-contacted people, who inhabit these pristine Andaman Islands and have voluntarily chosen to continue almost completely isolated, have been harassed by encroachment on their lands by the British and post-independence settlers, in the last 150 years.

Jarawa girls making flower necklaces on the ATR

Perennial pressure from poachers from the neighbouring countries like Myanmar & Thailand on the coast has driven them inland, and their nomadic and hunter-gatherer way of living has thus been increasingly threatened. Although a few Jarawas, particularly women and children, still come out onto the road or into the nearby settlements, they continue to live an admirably self-sufficient life in their forest.

They live in groups of 40-50 people, hunting pig and monitor lizard, fishing with bows and arrows, and gathering seeds, berries and honey.

Their survival became more jeopardized in 1970, with the building of a road through their forest, which brought more settlers, poachers and loggers into their land. Survival International has been calling for years the closure of that Andaman Trunk Road and removal of settlers from the tribal reserves. They have been campaigning to have the Jarawas’ rights to their land and to self-determination respected.

In 2002, the Govt. of India accepted to abandon resettlement plans for the Jarawa. And finally, in the face of strong political opposition, the Supreme Court of India accepted the recommendations of Commissioner Shekhar Singh, and issued the order to close the road, withdraw encroachers from the tribes' land, and end logging of their forests.

The order was issued in a petition about logging on tribal lands filed by the Society for Andaman and Nicabar Ecology (SANE), Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Kalpavriksh, a Pune based non profit organization working on environmental and social issues.

According to Survival’s director Stephen Corry, ‘As more and more people travel through the heart of the Jarawa’s land, the threat to their survival becomes ever more severe. If the Indian government is serious about preventing the extinction of yet another tribe, it must close the road.’

Statutory display of rules on the ATR

The government, meanwhile, has cleared the decks for creating a Buffer Zone around the Jarawa reserve in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. An amendment to the Andaman and Nicobar (Protection of Aboriginal Tribals) Regulation Act of 1956, promulgated by President Pratibha Patil on July 22, 2010 allows the island authorities to ban private tourism within the buffer zone. The proposal for a 5km-buffer zone has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. It’s being heard that if cleared, the Lieutenant Governor would be able to curb commerce in the 5Km Buffer Zone.

But the islands’ Tribal Welfare department is understood to have appealed against the apex court’s order. The ATR road is a lifeline that links the South Andaman with the Middle and North. If closed, the sizable number of settlers in those areas is going to have a tough time in the absence of a suitable alternative arrangement for their essential connectivity with the capital.

Present-day Diglipur (N/Andaman)

Meanwhile, Bishnu Pada Ray, the MP for the Andaman Islands, who wants to keep the road open, called a couple of months ago for the government to ‘civilize’ the Jarawa. He has demanded, “Quick and drastic steps be taken to bring the Jarawa up to the basic mainstream characteristics and the restrictions imposed on development activities for national highway level maintenance of Andaman Trunk Road be lifted immediately. The restrictions posing to be an impediment to the laying of railways linking Port Blair with Diglipur are lifted immediately to facilitate initiation of the project. This would require going hand in hand with the lightening mainstreaming of the Jarawas, which will also ensure survival of the Tribe as an entity blatantly threatened in the present context.”

The Bo, the Jarawa and other aboriginal tribes are known to have lived on the Andaman Islands for about 55,000 years, making them the descendants of some of the oldest human cultures on Earth.

The Bo were one of ten tribes now collectively known as the Great Andamanese. Most of the Great Andamanese were killed or died of diseases brought by the British, who colonized the islands in 1858. The British tried to ‘civilize’ them by capturing them and keeping them in an ‘Andaman Home’, where many died.

A rare picture of the Great Andamanese of the yesteryears

Survival’s Sophie Grig said, ‘The Jarawa are perfectly capable of deciding their own future, as long as the forest they rely on is protected and they are not forced to live in the way someone else t hinks best. History has shown that attempts to impose development on tribal people and remove them from their land are disastrous.’

I vehemently feel that it’s indeed an agonizing irony that these tribes, the only people who are enlightened and erudite enough to be able to offer the so-called civilized world some of the rarest techniques of survival in this era of frequent disasters of mammoth degrees, are being mercilessly led to the most hapless extinction, much, in fact, to the peril of their civilized counterparts.

The grand ancient knowledge of the movement of wind, sea, underground vibrations and birds that was prudently passed on from one generation to another had superbly saved the five indigenous tribes on the archipelago from the gargantuan Tsunami that had hit the Asian coastline on Dec. 26, 2004, in stark contrast to the Nicobarese tribe that are now completely civilized, who suffered the maximum loss of life and property.

The author donating Rescue Kits to the Tribal Captain of a Nicobarese village after the 2004 Tsunami

What good did the civilized world do for the welfare of the hapless Nicobarese tribe by civilizing them, thereby forcing them away from their lifestyle in the lap of Mother Nature, and what good would they do again by meting the same treatment out to the other primitive tribes of the land?

An insightful, prudent and truly humane deliberation is indispensable before venturing to meddle with the future of these precious jewels of the human race. We have just watched the horrendous fate of Japan…

Wake up! If not for them, dread digging your own graves, at least…!!!

FLY INDIA'S FIRST SEAPLANE IN ANDAMAN

Is it a bird; Is it a plane; No, It's a Seaplane!!!

The long-awaited seaplane, that has captured the imagination of people, mainly through James Bond movies, “Jal Hans”, India’s first commercial seaplane service has, ultimately, taken off in the serene, historic islands of Andaman & Nicobar, the subcontinent’s largest and most sought-after island tourism destination.

As the “Jal Hans” - Cessna 208 A, the amphibian fitted with the modern navigation facets of a large jet, took off from the Flying Club Hanger, behind the ITF ground, VIP road at Port Blair for the hip and happening Havelock Island and flew, in splendour, over the city of Port Blair and the Ross Island, the erstwhile “Paris of the East”, so did the new-fangled anticipations of the mostly uncared for local islanders, who thrive on tourism as the only viable source of living in this vulnerable island territory.

The Islands’ Lt. Governor, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Bhopinder Singh inaugurated the operations of the country’s first commercial seaplane service in the Islands on the 23^rd January, 2011. He traveled with his better half on the maiden trip of “Jal Hans” to Havelock along with the Chief Secretary and senior officers of the Administration.

“It was an enthralling experience for the tourists, subsequently, to behold the awesome volcanic eruptions taking place in India’s lone active volcano at the Barren Island, while enjoying the first ride in the sea plane. The amphibian hovered around the Barren Island enabling the tourists to have a glimpse of the natural phenomenon.”

“The tourists, after returning, said that flying in the seaplane helped them to see the magnificent view of the various islands covered with green forests, the volcano and vast sea stretches around it. They were also enthralled with the information coming in from the pilot about various places they were flying past,” as reported by a local daily here.

The seaplane service which has come up as a joint venture between the public sector Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) and A&N Administration will be used to connect Port Blair with Havelock, Diglipur and subsequently other parts of the islands including Southern groups of Islands.

View of the cockpit of “Jal Hans”

Until now, anyone wanting to travel between these islands had to use boats or a couple of PHHL helicopters, which were predominantly allocated for the commuting senior officials of the A & N Administration. It was awfully formidable for the general public of the islands to avail themselves of a seat on the choppers.

Markedly, now again one of the first passengers after inauguration of the “Jal Hans” was the BJP President, Nitin Gadkari, who enjoyed the seaplane flights from port Blair to various islands, while on tour here during the first week of this month.

BJP President, Nitin Gadkari with the “Jal Hans” at Port Blair

The “Jal Hans”, with a seating capacity of 2 (pilots) +8 (passengers), can fly passengers and their baggage to distances within 250 km in about an hour and can land on most calm waters. The launch of the commercial seaplane service promises to open up new vistas for tourists wanting to visit far flung islands that cannot have an airport.

To facilitate safe operations, facilities for ferrying of passengers from the shore to the pontoons, sanitization of the water-drome before take off and landing, a speed boat of 10 passenger capacity & one stand-by boat (inflatable Gemini boat) and one floating jetty (pontoon) each in the above locations have been placed.

According to my good friend Shri N Ravichandran, the Controlling Officer, Seaplane Operations (PHHL), Port Blair, seaplane schedules have been released already to ensure regular and fixed operation of seaplane to various tourist destinations in these islands. As per the schedule, seaplane will operate everyday except on Sunday which is reserved for maintenance. (Details of the schedule and bookings - andamankalash@gmail.com .)

Accordingly, Port Blair to Port Blair (joy ride), Port Blair to Barren Island aerial view and Port Blair to Havelock flight schedule has been released and the “Jal Hans” will make trips to Diglipur (North Andaman), as well.

Meanwhile, local grapevine has it that this is not the first seaplane in the country. It’s being asserted, of late, that “the first seaplane service was launched sometime during 1995 but unfortunately the seaplane during its return flight from Little Andaman plunged in the sea near Dundas Point - Kumhra-Kheti area while landing on 06-09-1995. The mishap cost life of a Senior Officer of SAI. The recovered and reconstructed seaplane (Cessna Caravan) now stands displayed in the Science Centre at Goodwill Estate, Port Blair.”

Seaplanes in front of the Ross Island during the Japanese reign

However, as I’ve written in my earlier posts, as well, seaplanes are not very new for the people of these historic Indian coral islands, at all. The Japanese occupation forces had used seaplanes in the Andamans for sometime during the Second World War, till the Allied Forces had introduced a full blockade of the islands. But the fact of the matter is that those were only used for the purpose of warfare and not for any civilian use.

As I’ve written here earlier too, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands have been witnessing steady increase in tourist numbers, as the rich tropical rain forests and waters of the Bay of Bengal are home to a vast species of plants, animals and marine life, most of which are endemic to these islands. Adventure tourism, including trekking, island camping, snorkeling and scuba diving are also becoming increasingly popular in the Andaman Islands. The launch of the commercial seaplane operations is expected to boost tourism infrastructure, manifold.

Much to the cheer of the tourists, a special introductory price is currently in effect for a period of 10 days from 9^th February, 2011 in the Port Blair-Havelock-Port Blair sector, offering 50% discount on the operational cost fare drawn up earlier. A passenger can now avail a trip to Havelock at a meager fare of 2000 INR one way, which otherwise would have cost 4100 INR one way.

It’s a truly worthwhile experience to fly in the seaplane, as the amphibian offers large individual windows to each and every passenger that facilitates enchanting aerial view of the peerless scenic beauty of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands; particularly the kick of flying so low above the sea level, combined with the excitement of landing and taking off in the sea, makes it a marvelous experience.

So, when are you flying the brand new “Jal Hans” at Port Blair?

SEAPLANES READY TO TAKE OFF IN ANDAMAN

Sea Plane Starts October 1

 

 

These historic coral islands are poised to be connected by a faster and innovative mode of transport in the form of amphibian aircraft connectivity, popularly known as ‘Sea Plane’, as the Central Planning Commission has cleared its operation here from October 1, 2010 i.e. barely a month from today.

 

Instead of procurement of helicopters, the Planning Commission has given its nod for Sea Plane operation as Pilot Project on 50:50 partnership basis, the Director (Tourism), Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Shri Binay Bhushan informed at Port Blair a couple of days ago.

 

According to him, the A & N Administration has signed a MoU with Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd., which will run the Pilot Project initially; as I had written in a post of mine about a month ago. As per the MoU, PHHL will operate Sea Plane from October 1, 2010, for island hopping by tourists in the breathtaking archipelago. The A & N Administration has provided an amount of Rs 146.40 Lakhs as advance to effect the operation, Binay Buhushan told the media.

 

 

Meanwhile, as per The Daily Telegrams, tenders for inducting sea planes on wet lease bases were invited and the successful bidder M/s Maritime Energy Heli Air Service Pvt. Ltd. will source the aircraft. The PHHL is currently operating chopper services connecting all the major islands in the archipelago.

 

To start with, Seaplanes will be available in the range of eight to 18 seaters. Operating the seaplane will cost about Rs 1 crore a month, including lease rental and operational expenses, that will be equally shared by the two government agencies.

 

 

This promising project, when materializes, is certainly to be greeted with warmth by the islanders and the tourists alike and the proposed operation of Sea Plane here also augurs well for the ensuing tourism and festive season.

 

As I had written earlier too, the Andaman & Nicobar Administration has chosen some of the most beautiful islands for being linked by the seaplane with the capital Port Blair. These include the happening Havelock Island (rated among the best beaches globally), Barren Island (an active volcano that most recently came to life five years ago), Neil Island and Diglipur (North Andaman).

 

 

All this would mean that there’s going to be an alluring bonus for the tourists visiting the tropical paradise of Andaman & Nicobar, henceforth and that’s the enchanting, spanking new Seaplane service for matchless island hopping, which is going to be India’s very first Sea Plane service.

 

The bottom-line – ‘Air Andaman’ is gonna be livelier, come October 1^st… Hurray…!!! :-)

THE INHUMAN HUMAN-SAFARI IN ANDAMAN

The Human Safari!!!

 

 

The survival of the very rare stone-age Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands is again being threatened by human safaris run by insensitive tour operators.

 

Survival International announced last week that it has written to eight travel companies that promote visits to, or sightings of, the Jarawa people, urging them to put an immediate stop to their tours. The trips put the tribe, who are likely to have little immunity to common illnesses, at serious risk of disease.

 

The promotion of tourism to the Jarawa is illegal. Four of the companies stopped promoting Jarawa tourism on their websites after Survival wrote to them. The Indian government also issued a public warning to companies after Survival alerted it to the safaris. Four companies, however, are continuing to promote the tours.

 

 

“An illegal highway runs through the Jarawa reserve, bringing in tourists, poachers and settlers. Survival is urging the Government of India to close the road immediately, and to stop intruders trespassing on the Jarawa’s land,” said Stephen Corry, Survival’s director.

 

“The Jarawa people lived successfully on their island without contact with outsiders for probably about 55,000 years, until 1998. Today, a road runs right through their forest home, and they risk decimation by disease. They call themselves the Ang, which means ‘human being’, yet they are being ogled at like animals in a game reserve.”

 

“The very last member of the neighboring Bo tribe died in January. We must not allow the same fate to befall the Jarawa, or the world will lose yet another vibrant, knowledgeable and complex part of humankind.”

 

As per Survival International, the companies that are still advertising tours with sightings of the Jarawa include:

 

1. Andaman Island Adventure [June 17 update: The page now appears to have been taken down. The company have written to Survival today saying that they will remove the references to the Jarawa from their website];

2. Explore Andaman with Kariappa;

3. Rhino Jungle Adventures;

4. Offbeat Andaman Vacations

 

The following companies have stopped promoting tours to the Jarawa on their websites since Survival wrote to them:

 

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands Tours and Travels, owned by Barefoot India. Barefoot says it bought the company and website from another tour operator, and did not run the tours that were advertised as the website was ‘“dead” for all practical purposes’. “Barefoot’s Director has explained that they did not have the necessary password to enable them to change the website. Since Survival wrote to the company, the website has been removed.”

2. Sky-Sketch (India)

3. Andaman Island Travels

4. Vicky Tours and Travels

 

In 2002, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the highway that runs through the Jarawa reserve should be closed, but the government has kept the road open yet. Nevertheless, the Government of India has issued a public warning to tour operators after Survival alerted it to the safaris.

 

Facts about the Jarawa and Bo Tribes:

 

The Jarawas number about 320 and live in the thick forests of South and Middle Andaman. They hunt pig and monitor lizard, fish with bows and arrows, and gather seeds, berries and honey. They are nomadic, living in bands of 40-50 people.

 

 

In 1998, some Jarawas started coming out of their forest to visit nearby towns and settlements for the first time. The Andaman tribes’ ancestors are thought to have been amongst the first people to migrate successfully from Africa to Asia.

 

Most of the Bo tribe died of diseases brought by the British in the 19th century. The death of “Boa Sr” in January 2010 meant that what may have been one of the world’s oldest languages, ‘Bo’, also came to an end.

ANDAMAN - A SEA OF CHANGE IN 30 YEARS

A Sea of Change in 30 Years

 

 

With silver sands, lagoons and enchanting seamless greenery, the Andamans have always been a destination worth visiting. Tourism is the bread & butter of the people of these exquisite islands. Unlike the vignettes of Port Blair more than a quarter century ago, one can today find many eateries and lodges that suit one’s taste buds as well as budget.

 

Over the years, new places have been thrown open to the tourists, like the Ross Island where the settlement’s headquarters was first established, the Viper Island where penal settlement was first established, and Chatham Island where Asia’s First and Biggest Saw Mill was established and is still functioning.

 

The historic Chatham Island housing Asia’s First & Biggest Saw Mill

 

New museums like the Samudrika marine museum, forest museum and the fisheries aquarium boast of rare collection of flora and fauna of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The Anthropological Museum is worth a visit, what with Old Stone Age Jarawa and Sentinel tribes still surviving in the islands, against all odds.

 

 

A couple of days ago, I happened to come across a pretty interesting piece of travelogue by one Mr. S. Balakrishnan, who had stayed in the islands about 30 years ago and had recently made a tour to the islands after staying away all these years. I liked most of what he has said about the sea-change that he observed in multifarious aspects of development in the territory, while on tour. Hence, I feel tempted to share it with you all, here, so that you could fathom the immense difference one feels in the Andamans of yesteryears and those of today. Read on…

 

“It was a revisit to India’s emerald islands in the east embellishing the Bay of Bengal. Reflections of life and times in Port Blair three decades ago flashed through the mind as Indian Airlines carrier touched down Veer Savarkar airport.

 

The images of the past and the realities of the present were quite striking. The transformation that the Andaman Islands have gone through was palpable during a recent week-long crisscross of the islands. From buildings to bridges, from roads to bye lanes, beaches to skyline, the canvas of this coral island portrayed a sea change.

 

For an island territory lying away from the mainland and spread North-South across the deep sea over a length of 800 kilometers, transport is the lifeline. Whereas initially there was only a once-a-week flight from Kolkata, and later from Chennai, now there are daily flights from these two cities, even by private airlines. Additional services are also operated as and when necessary.

 

 

Similarly, for inter-island transport, helicopter service has been introduced linking Diglipur, the farthest town of North Andamans to Campbell Bay located in the southernmost part, in Nicobar Group of Islands. Talking of sea cruise, both the mainland to island service and inter-island services have improved a lot. As far as surface transport is concerned, privatization has eased the problem to a great extent. The ubiquitous auto rickshaw has also reached the islands.

 

Construction of Great Andaman Trunk Road (now National Highway 223) has certainly paved the way for improved infrastructure. However, the road building, which started in 1970s, had turned controversial as it cuts through the ‘reserved’ forest areas of the Jarawa tribe, a Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) group. The current plans to widen the road have further aggravated its impact on the habitat of the Jarawas.

 

The Anthropological Museum at Port Blair

 

The advent of cell phone has turned out to be a great boon to the nearly four lakh population in the islands. Not only one could converse with people in the mainland at the press of a button, but could also speak with the same ease and clarity to an acquaintance in the southernmost island of Great Nicobar, where the inter-island ferry takes two days to reach. Postal facilities have also markedly improved, the efficient speed post service scored where a private courier service failed to reach the remote Baratang.

 

Snorkeling and cruising in glass-bottomed boats and scuba diving for the trained and experienced are the new attractions. Watching lakhs of jelly fish gently float by in the waters of Mahatma Gandhi National Marine Park was like watching Discovery Channel live. Near Baratang, the Parrot Island, mud volcano, limestone cave and mangrove canopy walk are the added attractions for tourists who love to be with Nature.

 

At the same time, responsible tourism that protects and conserves nature is also strictly followed. Tourists are not allowed to pick and bring back prohibited sea shells and corals. 

 

Limestone caves at Baratang, South Andaman

 

A lot of renovation and beautification works have been done in and around the cellular Jail, now a National Memorial in honor of our freedom fighters who languished under colonial oppression since 1857. A museum has been created depicting the history of penal settlement and the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters so that we could be free. Watching the sound and light show in the premises of the Cellular Jail that chronicles the courage and sacrifice of our freedom fighters was a time worth spent.

 

The Cellular Jail

 

Cut off from the hustles and bustles of mainland, the social life on the island, lacks luster. However, it is made up by satellite and Cable TV and DVDs, that throw open the whole world at the flick of the remote. Take a stroll through the National Highway 223 - the memories etched thirty years ago get overlapped by the transformation over the years.

 

The look of the bazaars has changed. From what used to be a lazy marketplace that got to life only when ships from the mainland arrived, is now bustling with regular shops that include gold jewellery marts and mini supermarkets stocking almost everything and anything. Local handicrafts sector has improved vastly. LPG cooking gas has reached the islands and so has milk, where milk powder was the only source for milk then. Local production of fruits and vegetables has seen a marked improvement yet, much of the demand is still being met from the mainland and hence a bit costlier.

 

The Aberdeen Bazar at Port Blair

 

Despite a manifold increase in power consumption, diesel generators are still the only source of power supply. Other sources of energy like gobar/bio gas, solar, wave, and wind can be tried in a big way. Similarly, there seemed to be a perennial shortage of water despite rains for more than six months a year. Saline water treatment plant could be established and water harvesting, even in small quantities, should be encouraged.

 

Though life in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands has improved a lot in general, development is always at the cost of Nature. We have to tread very carefully, at least as far as the tribes are concerned.” 

 

Courtesy: www.jansamachar.net Original Source: PIB

INDIA'S FIRST SEAPLANE IN ANDAMAN ISLANDS

Seaplane Service by October

 

Come October and Indians won’t need to go abroad to fly a seaplane — the ones that take off and land on water.

 

 

For the first time in India's aviation history, seaplane operations are likely to begin in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in October this year, with the state-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) planning to launch its services.

 

Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL) along with the Andaman and Nicobar administration is getting the country’s first seaplane for island hopping by tourists in the breathtaking archipelago.

 

The two government bodies agreed, last week, to equally share the cost of this programme that will, to begin with, be launched as a pilot project for six months in October and then extended depending on the response.

 

"We plan to launch seaplane operations by October 15," PHHL CMD, R K Tyagi said at a seminar on helicopter operations at New Delhi last week, adding that the operations would be launched jointly by the public sector chopper firm and the island administration to operate sorties for tourists and inter-island movements.

 

The PHHL, which currently operates helicopter services in the group of islands, also plans similar services in Goa and Lakshadweep after the Andaman operations settle down.

 

 

The chopper firm plans to wet-lease one amphibian seaplane, likely from a Mauritius-based company, for one year. The cost of the project, which is to be shared 50:50 with the A & N Administration, would be about Rs six to eight crores.

 

“We are going to issue a global tender to take a helicopter on wet lease (hired from a company that looks after its maintenance and provides the crew). Seaplanes are available in the range of eight to 18 seaters,” PHHL chief R K Tyagi said.

 

Operating the seaplane will cost about Rs 1 crore a month, including lease rental and operational expenses, that will be equally shared by the two government agencies.

 

The Andaman & Nicobar Administration has chosen some of the most beautiful islands for being linked by the seaplane with the capital Port Blair. These include Havelock (rated among the best beaches globally), Barren Island (an active volcano that most recently came to life five years ago), Neil Island and Diglipur (North Andaman).

 

 

The local administration will provide the infrastructure like maintenance units and passenger jetties in different islands where the plane will fly. The aviation ministry has long been pushing for introduction of seaplanes in India.

 

One does get an impression that seaplanes have a huge potential in India that has a coastline of over 8,000 km and dotted by several beautiful islands. In fact, PHHL was asked to get the first seaplane on its own but given the expenses involved, the PSU was looking at getting partners.

 

To questions on PHHL's chopper operations in the islands; he said the Union Home Ministry subsidized helicopter operations in the islands in 90:10 ratio.

 

This enables a local inhabitant to pay only ten per cent of the price for inter-island transportation while a tourist pays 25 per cent of the cost.

 

The Tourism Department has signed a MoU with Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited to wet lease seaplanes for six months to operate on a trial basis. If it works well, it would come as an enchanting boon both for the tourists and the local people alike.

 

However, seaplanes are not very new for the people of these historic Indian coral islands. The Japanese occupation forces had used seaplanes in the Andamans for sometime during the Second World War, till the Allied Forces had introduced a full blockade of the islands. But those were only the seaplanes used for the purpose of warfare and not for any civilian use.

 

 

News courtesy: The Economic Times ; Japanese Photo - www.ancestry.com

ANDAMAN ISLANDS TOURISM FESTIVAL

Islands Tourism Festival

Staying far away from the Indian mainland deep in the Bay of Bengal, farther from the country and at a stone’s throw away from Indonesia and Myanmar, the local Islanders of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands had no mode of social/public entertainment, other than the enormously gorgeous natural surroundings and a few under-developed tourists’/picnic spots around Port Blair, the capital.

With the advent of the nineties in the last century, the handful of below-par cinema theaters that ever existed closed down as they couldn’t sustain with the exorbitant operational costs as against the feeble turn out of viewers owing to a petite population in the Islands. Satellite television or ‘cable TV’, as we know it, had already made way into the Islands around the late eighties making the matters worse for their survival.

The Andaman & Nicobar administration, under the visionary leadership of Lt. Gen. (Rtrd.) Tirath Singh Oberoi, the then Lieutenant Governor of the Islands, began organizing an annual exhibition in the historic Gymkhana Ground at Port Blair with the name – “Islands on the March” during the late eighties. The intention was to showcase the development activities of various departments under the Administration and also the future projects to be taken up for the benefit of the Islanders with notable emphasis on promotion of tourism in these Islands.

A number of cultural and entertainment programs were organized during the annual exhibition in which the local Islanders including the high-spirited tribal population of Nicobar were encouraged to participate with immense fervor. The tourists visiting the Islands used to have the phenomenal benefit of enjoying the ambiance as well as exploring a great deal about the unique history, cosmopolitan culture and remarkable tradition of these exemplary Islands.

Under the most competent headship of Vakkom Purushotthaman, the subsequent Lt. Governor, one of the best administrators that these Islands have ever seen, the exhibition underwent a conspicuous metamorphosis in the early nineties, with the venue shifted to the police ground near the Veer Savarkar airport and the nomenclature also was shuffled and the event renamed from the erstwhile “Islands on the March” to “Islands Tourism Festival”.

Thanks to the glossy influential leadership of Vakkom, who had earlier been the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly for years together, more and more funds began to be allocated for the annual gala and the Islanders were treated for the very first time, with the best of talents & celebrity performers from Bollywood and other high class cultural troupes from multifarious corners of the country, right here in the Bay of Bengal.

It was made sure that the culture, art and tradition of these Islands were promoted by way of the annual gala and that tourism, Islanders’ welfare and development received the premium impetus. The festival was to be used as a potent innovative medium to highlight these attributes of the Islands before the visiting tourists, primarily, and the media at large.

Come the 21st century and the only annual state-level festival in these Islands underwent another transformation, and this time it was for worse, thanks to the change of hands and heads at the administrative leadership, which made sure that the best golden era of development in the history of the Islands came to a screeching halt after Vakkom was replaced by his successors.

The ITF has now been left to nothing but the theater of the absurd fabricated by the infamously inert Andaman & Nicobar Administration... A categorical farce and nothing else...!!! It has, in fact, been reduced to a brazen exhibition of the A & N Administration's paucity of brain and utter indifference towards the local residents of the Islands.

There’s almost nothing to do with the display of development of tourism or the current tourism related activities and initiatives in the grossly neglected pristine Islands, which if potentially utilized could give a gung-ho competition to the neighboring countries like Thailand & Malaysia, which have been doing a tremendously commendable job of promoting their tourism potential in the name of the “Andaman Sea”.

The very first attribute of the only annual exhibition or “Tourism Festival” as the administration relishes calling it, which haunts me, is the very name. Why is it called the “Islands Tourism Festival”, at all, when most of the participants in the various cultural programs/performances & exhibition stalls are invited from the mainland India? I think it’s an absolute thoughtless misnomer!

I mean, if it was truly meant to be an Islands' Tourism Festival; which it is supposed to be at least in the name of organizing something entertaining yet meaningful for the sake of the luckless Islanders of these vulnerable and disaster-prone Islands and the welfare thereof; then most obviously and befittingly, most of the participants/performers ought to be from amongst the Islanders and about the Islanders.

On the contrary, the administration, now invites mostly substandard performers from the mainland India not to present anything related to the Islands’ tourism or the amazing cosmopolitan culture, but to present various other cultural arts and acts that are not related to the Islands’ tourism development in any manner, at all.

Gone are the days, when the Islanders used to be treated with the likes of the famous Bollywood singers Kumar Sanu, Abhijit, Suresh Wadkar, Meenakshi Seshadri, Johny Lever, and Baba Sehgal and so on.

Artistes from South Zone Cultural Centre, East Zone Cultural Centre, Song and Drama Division, Kolkata and many other troupes are invited to take part in the Islands Tourism Festival every year and paid handsomely to the tune of 2.5 to 3 lakh rupees per troupe apart from the free up and down travel fares and accommodation at Port Blair, whereas the Islanders’ troupes are paid to the tune of a measly defamatory sum of 3000 rupees per troupe only.

And on top of it all, the participation of the local indigenous tribes is drastically thinning, year after year, despite the fact that the buoyant Nicobarese tribe is immensely talented and their cultural performances are a real treat to watch for anyone from anywhere in the world. The proud fact that Full Birth, one of the Nicobarese tribal youth has been India’s National Cycling Champion, seconds my contention.

The only silver lining in the cloud in this year’s ITF, which began on January 7, 2010 and wound up on January 15, 2010, was that the “Andaman and Nicobar Administration, after a long hiatus, have come out with a comprehensive tourism policy document, which seems promising, but the distrust that it has created for decades may be the toughest stumbling block in its implementation”, as reported by the Light of Andamans.

“The Tourism Trade, as the press statement claims to have been involved in its preparation, seems to be totally indifferent towards the approach of the tourism department. Their univocal feeling further shows how the whole system runs and also the people behind it. Without a total change in mindset, nothing drastic can be done by the policy.” - (LoA)

“The Tourism Policy is not going to bring about any miracle overnight. Small steps that one takes towards the goal define how the projects and dreams are going to come true within the timeframe. The website of tourism department is in shambles. It was last updated a decade ago. The information it contains are obsolete. The Island Tourism Festival it features was held in 2002. Do you really need a policy to update the information on a website? At the same time, hundreds of small and amateurish websites developed and hosted by small tour operators and auto rickshaw drivers is the face of Brand Andaman on the internet. As Vivek Rae, CS mentioned in his speech at the inaugural function of Island Tourism Festival, the media campaigns are all spontaneous reactions without any strategy.” - (LoA)

In a nutshell, the fact that these serene historic coral Islands have an encouraging coastline of 1912 sq km and umpteen number of striking virgin beaches to complement it with, there are stupendous prospects of development in the field of tourism and other related sectors, but the issues, nevertheless, remain unaddressed, plainly because there's a supreme lack of intent on the part of the doers - the brazenly sluggish administration.

And to add to the long-standing misery of us Islanders, the political leadership whom the Islanders themselves elect, are either squarely incompetent or too busy trying to make sure that they don't miss out on their chunk of fortune. And that has been the customary response, of their glorious predecessors throughout the entire country, to coming to power for a full five years a term.

Well, where are we heading…?