John Wilbert
Port Blair, July 19: In a shocking development a number Jarawa youths reportedly entered inside private plantation area of Shantanu Village, Kadamtala, Middle Andaman and cut nearly 40 fully grown Arecanut Trees and took those trees with them.
Mr. Prakash Mandal, incharge of INC in Uttara told Andaman Sheekha Daily over phone that some villagers saw Jarawa Tribal people cutting those Arecanut Trees but out of fear they could not stop them. The Jarawa Tribal people were carrying machetes, he claimed.
According to Mr. Mandal this incident took place on 16 July 2021. “Since last two years Jarawa Tribal people are entering in our villages but they used to leave with some fruits and coconuts etc but this is the first time when they caused such damage to private plantation,” he added.
Mr. Mandal also claimed that the Jarawa Tribal people came in a dinghy however, when officials of Tribal Welfare of both Kadamtala and Middle Strait region were questioned, they refuted any such news saying they do not have any such information.
They claimed that they are keeping close eye on the movement of Jarawa Tribes due to COVID-19 situation and hence there is no chance anyone from Jarawa Tribe can do this.
Entering of Jarawa tribal people in village areas is not a new thing in Kadamtala region of Middle Andaman. Andaman Sheekha had earlier reported about dozens of such incidents but in present scenario such undetected movement of Jarawa Tribal people, could be dangerous for entire Tribal Community because of the threat of COVID-19 infection.
If in this case some Jarawa Tribal people had entered Middle Andaman villages by duping officials of Tribal Welfare department, then this is a serious issue and such lapses must not be repeated.
Villagers of Middle Andaman are also demanding for a full proof mechanism to keep Jarawa Tribal People away from Middle Andaman villages to avoid any conflict between Jarawa Tribes and villagers of Middle Andaman, in coming days.
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