John Wilbert & Savita Kumari
Port Blair, Feb 21: Lack of trained doctors to operate the Ultrasound equipment in CHC Diglipur has left dozens of patients in deep distress. Expecting mothers of Diglipur region, who need ultrasound checkup atleast thrice during pregnancy period are suffering the most.
It is learnt that earlier an Ultrasound Operator used to reach Diglipur from Mayabunder once in a month to conduct various Ultrasound tests/checkups but since last two months no one came to CHC Diglipur from Mayabunder District Hospital to operate the Ultrasound machine for unknown reasons.
“We have been asked to travel to Mayabunder to get Ultrasound checkup done. How is it even possible for a pregnant mother to travel to Mayabunder with such a pathetic condition of NH4,” said a villager of Diglipur, who does not want his name to be quoted.
People of Diglipur area are demanding to post a permanent Ultrasound operator/Doctor to CHC Diglipur, considering the huge population of the region.
When Andaman Sheekha correspondent contacted the Chief Medical Officer of CHC Diglipur, Dr. Siddha Raju on this issue, he said that the problem is that the ultrasound machine needs to be operated only by trained Doctors.
“We need a trained Doctor to operate the ultrasound machine. This is the reason why earlier a trained Doctor used to come to Diglipur from Mayabunder every month,” he added.
He assured Andaman Sheekha that he has got information that tomorrow for two days, a Doctor from Mayabunder will be reaching Diglipur to carry out Ultrasound tests/check ups.
Insiders told Andaman Sheekha that due to short notice of arrival of Ultrasound operators in Diglipur, CHC Diglipur officials find it very difficult to inform all patients, who are waiting for Ultrasound Tests/Checkups about the dates.
Hence the general public of the region are demanding that the Director of Health Service must direct the District Hospital Mayabunder to send doctors to Diglipur for Ultrasound tests/check ups only on a specific date atleast twice in a month.

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Feb. 15: The polling materials for the ensuing Panchayat Election-2022 have been carefully received at Diglipur today. Before keeping this polling material in the Strong Room, in the Administrative Building, Diglipur, representatives from political parties of Diglipur were invited to be present; and accordingly one Smti Alpana Mondal and Sreeti Biswas from BJP and one Shri Ashit Bain from INC and Shri A.V.A Samad from CPIM were present at the time of this activity. Shri Ankit Yadav (IAS), Assistant Commissioner, Diglipur was seen very vigilant and watchful on every activity while Shri R.K Sharma, DySP Diglipur, Shri N S Stalin along with police personnel and heads of various depts. were seen to monitor and observe the entire activity of polling materials during the entire period manoeuvring and unloading of the polling materials from a STS bus. After arranging/stacking the polling materials in the Strong Room in order, the electric connection of the Strong Room was snapped/disconnected, carefully locked with heavy duty locks, locks stitched with cloth and sealed with sealing wax. The sealed locks were then signed by political representatives present there. Entire activity was carried out amidst tight security of police officials and IRBN jawans. The Strong Room is now under strict watch of this security force, an official source said.
Earlier, Shri Mahen Roy, Tehsildar, Diglipur along with a Patwari went to Port Blair on 14/02/2022 to collect this polling material and who reached Diglipur today with polling material on the STS bus, the source also said.
As per further report, First Round training of Presiding and First Polling Officer was imparted by Shri Som Naidu, State Master Trainer in VKV Zilla Parishad School Auditorium, Diglipur today. Total number of participants in the said training was 302, the source said.

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Feb. 10: Plagued by several hardships owing to non-existence of the basic infrastructures in their village, the denizens of a remote village called Nischintapur under Gram Panchayat Kalighat, Tehsil Diglipur, Dist. North & Middle Andaman have come up with a plethora of issues which have been severely affecting their day-to-day life for the last couple of decades.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha, they said that their ancestors were settled under a colonization scheme in the village in the year 1960 by the Govt. of India and initially there were only 19 families which now have expanded to 43 families.
They bemoaned that their village is totally cut off from the mainstream of development and the villagers are still leading a hardscrabble life due to non-availability of roads, bridge, health service centres, community halls, transport facilities, telephone/mobile network, street lights, veterinary centres etc.
Except electricity and drinking water facilities, no other services are provided in this village in a proper way, they alleged. Talking to the Andaman Sheekha, they said that there is no single puckka road in this village since 1960; the villagers have to walk about 5 to 7 kms on the bumpy & muddy track through the natural reserve forests and then wading through mangrove to reach to market, hospital, school etc situate at Kalighat, their only nearby town for availing other basic facilities. There are a couple of brooks with no culvert to cross over; a footbridge (built with a piece of long log placing across it and bamboo support) is the adopted means of their transportation system, they rued. But the movement becomes highly dangerous and risky for the children, elderly, CWSN (Divyang), sick and most importantly the pregnant women of their village are the most vulnerable, they further added.
In emergency like venomous snake-bite, crocodile attack etc these victims are carried in stretchers (made with cloth & bamboo). However, instances are there that, in the event of non-availability of four persons for carrying the victim in stretcher at night, many lost their lives in such cases.
Owing to the non-existence of a bridge over the creek of Kalighat, people lost their lives due to capsizing of dinghy, drowning and crocodile attack, they bemoaned. “The local administration built a 100 mtr long and 1.5 mtr width wooden footbridge over the Kalighat Creek and which proves to be a death-trap in every rainy season. Some time a part of this footbridge is washed away by floodwaters with heavy current and sometimes it gets damaged and becomes highly risky. We have to repeatedly urge the administration for its early repair so as to facilitate our movement through this sole wooden footbridge” the dismayed inhabitants further elucidated.
There is a sub-centre but no regular health worker stays there at night, they make irregular visits to this sub-centre. They maintain the records while the facts are the other way round, they alleged. Under the given situation, villagers have to bear the brunt of perilous journey in reaching PHC, Kalighat for availing even minor treatment, they further revealed.
Highlighting their points they further disclosed that the village lacks a community hall, a playground for children and a veterinary centre. The village is plagued with the problem of no connectivity of mobile network and thus remains totally cut off from the rest of the world. Infrastructures are the basic systems that undergird the structure of the economy of an area; but primarily, owing to non-existence of road in the village, denizens have to practice age-old head carrying method and transport their goods; and this is the prime reason the villagers have ceased to produce crops for marketing and this in turn has further wreaked havoc on their economy.
Another eye-opening fact is that, many families are not willing to allow their children to marry deserving youths of the village because there is no proper communication system like, road & transport, mobile network, etc. in place.
The foremost and most rudimentary requirement of the village is the immediate construction of a 10-12 km pucca road from Subhash Roy House of Madhyamgram village to Late Kedari Nath Halder house of Nishchintapur (5 family) under Diglipur Tehsil to bridge the gap between this backward and much neglected village Nishchintapur and Kalighat, they residents of this remote area urged.
They further said that, the construction of this proposed pucca road through the desired area will ensure the direct benefits of 04 villages namely- Nishchintapur, Kalighat, Madyamgram and Narayan Tikrey and about 1500 to 2000 villagers will be the beneficiaries.
They only want that their long cherished demands of a pucca road, a primary school, 24 hrs medical service, check-dams, ring wells and other basic requirements are fulfilled and are rescued from the quagmire of backwardness.
Earlier, they approached the administration of these islands several times and apprised the concerned authorities about the plight of their living condition and the officialdoms assured them of redressal each time but gradually their assurance turned only to lip-service and these denizens we are still in the same state of sheer adversity, they bemoaned.
They have shot a letter to the Prime Minister of India and the Home Minister of India for early redressal of their grievance, they said.

Saleem Javed & Savita Kumari
Port Blair, Jan 31: Here’s a story from tiny village of Tiruvanchikulam village under Gram Panchayat Shivapuram, Betapur, Middle Andaman, that is too heartwarming to be true.
Mr. Sonai Muthu, a resident of Shivapuram has built a mini Taj Mahal to honour his beloved wife, who passed away in a road accident on 29 January 2020.
Today on 30th January 2022 the Mini Taj Mahal replica, named Devi Mahal, was inaugurated in loving memory of his wife Late Sunita Devi.
Mr. Muthu, a businessman by profession, said when his wife was alive, she had once asked him for a tiny model of Taj Mahal for home decoration but unfortunately, he could not gift the same to her at that point of time but now after her death he worked dedicatedly to construct the Taj Mahal replica in her memory.
The replica of the Taj Mahal has been built on her grave and Mr. Muthu has decided to allow all public to visit the Devi Mahal and keep it open for all visitors.

 

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Jan. 06: BJYM, Diglipur held a rally in the evening here today against the Congress led Charanjit Singh Channi govt. in Punjab against its alleged security lapses on the Honourable Prime Minister of India who was on a scheduled visit to Punjab for holding public meeting yesterday. They shouted slogans against the Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi & Smti Sonia Gandhi in the rally which started from BJP Office and ended at Diglipur Bazaar Chowk. They alleged that it was a well orchestrated plan of putting the PM’s life at risk in Punjab yesterday. This was not only an attack at the PM Office but also a deliberate attempt to subvert the democracy itself, BJYM shouted in their slogans. After strongly condemning the Channi govt., BJYM burnt the effigies of Punjab CM and Mr. Rahul Gandhi at around 07.00 PM at Diglipur Bazaar Chowk, a source said.