Andaman Administrator urges people to unite to face water crisis

Port Blair, June 3 (UNI) Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lt Gen(Retd) Bhopinder Singh today urged the people to come together to face the challenge of water crises in the state.

''By working together we can overcome this challenge,'' Mr Singh said while addressing the conference of Bengal Association of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (BAANI) at Dr B R Ambedkar auditorium here today.

The Minister of West Bengal Micro and Small Scale Enterprises, Textiles and Department of Tourism Manobendra Mokhopadhyay and the lone Member of Parliament of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manoranjan Bhakta also graced the occasion.

The Lt Governor said that efforts have been made to construct water resources for a long term solution of the existing water crisis and in future the islanders will forget that there was a water crisis in this island. He appealed to the people to cooperate with the administration in tackling this situation.

Referring to the conference, the Lt Governor added, the Bengali community had immensely contributed towards the development of these islands.

''It was this community that rehabilitated this island during bad times and expressed his gratitude towards BAANI for protecting the sociocultural and linguistic distinction of the Bengali community'' he said.

The Lt Governor said that during the critical period right after the tsunami hit the islands, the community has also come forward in extending their help to the administration in the relief and rehabilitation work that was taken up in the post-tsunami period.

He appealed to the community to keep up this cooperation for the future welfare of the islands and at the same time preserve its own traditional sociocultural customs.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister informed that the Bengali community is one of the oldest communities that have exposed themselves to social reform and modernisation.

A colourful cultural programme was also conducted on the occasion.

UNI