Four tsunami rehab workers die in Nicobar

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Port Blair, Jan 3 (UNI) Four labourers from West Bengal, working in rehabilitation projects in tsunami hit Nicobar group of islands, have died, while about 50 others are down with malaria.

''Four people had died due to malaria and snake bites and about 50 others are suffering from Malaria in our islands,'' Mr Rashid Yusuf, the spokesperson of Tribal Council of Nancowry, told UNI here today.

Andaman and Nicobar islands were badly hit by tsunami in 2004 and since then rehabilitation work is on in these far flung islands.

Contractors, who have been awarded the works to construct 9,797 permanent shelters in remote tsunami ravaged islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands have brought in thousands of labourers from West Bengal and other nearby states, who according to reports are working in dangerous conditions.

Tribal activists are opposing entry of labourers in tribal area, but the administration says it is the only way to complete construction work on time.

Nicobar Group of Islands falls under tribal reserve area and one requires to have tribal pass to enter these islands.

''Permitting non-tribal labourers in tribal reserve area in huge numbers will invite many other problems in near future. The Administration should have been more careful,'' said Mr Subhasis Ray, the secretary of HELP (Healthy Environment and Less Pollution) an NGO of Andaman&Nicobar Islands.

The Administration accepts the facts, but senior officials say they are helpless.

''From one side we get huge pressure for constructing permanent shelter on time and from other side there is pressure not to permit non-tribal labourers inside tribal reserve. In Nicobar, labourers are not available so labourers were brought from outside,'' Mr Dharam Pal, Relief Commissioner of A&N Islands told UNI.

However, Health Department sources informed that special arrangements were made to tackle the situation in Nicobar Group of Islands and arrangements were being made for non-tribal labourers.

UNI

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X