50 new travelling sites for tsunami hit Andaman

Port Blair, Sept 4: Knives of environmentalists were out as soon as Andaman and Nicobar Tourism department announced to open 50 new locations in 15 virgin islands for promotion of travelling.

The local administration also assured the new tourism destiantions would be absolutely eco-friendly.

The Andaman and Nicobar administration has offered 50 new sites, spread over 15 lush-green islands of Andamans to woo tourists both domestic and alien.

But the environment lobby is opposing the idea saying the travelling would geopardise the fragile ecology of the islands.

"We are all set but not in a hurry and we are ready to discuss with any environmentalist in this regard. We would go in planned manner considering the delicate ecology of these islands," Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Tourism Department Dharam Pal told UNI.

He said Islands, which would be soon ready with all these 50 sites are Neil, Havelock, Little Andaman, North Passage, Peel, Aves Island, Rutland, Baratang, Cinque, Interview, Long Island, Middle Andaman, North Andaman, Smith and Ross Island and South Andaman.

These sites have been selected to set up environmentally sensitive hotels and beach resorts under promotion of tourism plan, Mr Pal stressed.

But according to the environmentalists' pressure of tourism always has adverse impact on ecology. They feel that these islands are ecologically very sensitive and everything has to be planed according to the ecological balance and carrying capacity of these islands.

"More pressure of tourism does more damage to the ecology and there are many such examples," said Arup Kumar Roy, a field worker of HELP (Healthy Environment and Less Pollution), an NGO.

Mr Roy is presently based in Bhopal after working for more than two years in these remote Indian islands on environment. "Added pressure of tourism will have an adverse impact on the ecologically fragile islands. Besides, there is no concrete plan related to transport," Pankaj Sekhsaria of Kalpravriskh, a Pune-based NGO working in these islands recently told an Science magazine commenting on this plan of Administraion." But, Mr Pal argued that the local administration was concentrating on promotion of only eco-tourism so that ecological balance could be maintained and all these new sites would be for promoting eco-tourism.

However, Mr Pal said the administration was still to get a final nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forest in this regard.

According to administrative sources once this plan gets a green signal from Ministry of Environment and Forest, these new sites would be open for bidding for investors. In the first phase, tenders will be invited for four or five islands. Depending on the response and circumstances, other islands will be opened to bidders in phase manner, Mr Pal added.

The green archipelagoes, scattered in Bay of Bengal were ravaged by tsunami 20 months back. Nearly 3527 people were declared dead or missing-believed-dead after December 24, tsunami. The nature fury had left more than 46,000 people homeless in these islands and damaged properties worth Rs. 3327 crore, according to Government figures.

Since then the local administration was fighting back to resume tourism activities in Andaman. The new tourist-season for these islands is yet to start but according to official figures travellers have already started coming and the foreign tourist figure increased.

UNI

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