Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, May 08: Aerial Bay which harbours Tourist Fiber Boats of a number of tour operators in Diglipur —wears a desolate look: Rows of empty fiber motorboats lie moored in the bay. The operators/owners frantically look for customers, but most of them return home empty-handed. “The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has robbed us of our only source of livelihood in the last two years. We would make ends meet by ferrying tourists to Ross & Smith Island,” rued Uttam Roy, the President, Diglipur Tourist Fiber Boat Owners’ Association.

Talking to Andaman Sheekha, Mr. Uttam Roy said that, apart from devastating trails left by the pandemic, their profession is now crippled with a number of shortcomings which are aggravating their tour operating business.

Mr. Roy said that their association is in serious need of suitable land for their association’s office; bereft of an office they can’t conduct their business activities properly. Hence a suitable land preferably at/near Aerial Bay Jetty be allotted in favour of their association, the President of the Association said.

Mr. Roy highlighted some issues of some prime tourist spots of Diglipur region; and according to him, there is a dire need of a floating jetty at Ross & Smith Island; in absence of a floating jetty, they have to face a lot of inconveniences/hardships to disembark the tourists. Hence, an immediate setting up of a floating jetty at Ross & Smith Island is an urgent need of the hour, he said. “It has been observed over the years that, due to non-existence of a Canteen and no arrangement of potable water at Ross & Smith Island, we, tourists and others have to face the wrath of hunger and thirst” Mr. Roy lamented and hence a canteen serving meals/food/snacks is desirable in the said interest, he suggested. According to Mr. Roy, beautification of a place is the foremost requirement of that place to attract tourists; but sadly enough no initiatives have been taken so far to beautify Ross & Smith Island and other tourist spots of Diglipur, he alleged. “Ross & Smith Island is one of the most enchanting tourist spots of the world lying in distinctly unappealing state which along with other tourist spots of Diglipur needs only to beautify in an echo-friendly manner to return to its original charm so as to attract and allure more and more tourists” a Tourist Fibre Boat Owner bemoaned. On the other hand, old huts at Ross & Smith Island are in derelict state which need an immediate renovation so as to give them a new look, Mr. Roy felt. Ross & Smith Island has tremendous potential and opportunity to boost tourism in Diglipur, he further said. The introduction of Water-Sports Activities in Ross & Smith Island and at other potential tourist spots will attract more tourists to Diglipur. Hence, initiatives are taken in this direction as well, he urged. It is so unfortunate that there is no proper and potable water facility at Ross & Smith Island; in fact, it reflects how serious we are in terms of rendering service to the tourists and others, Mr. Roy argued.

The President, Diglipur Tourist Fiber Boat Owners’ Association further said that, parking space at Aerial Bay near Jetty for tourist vehicles is a serious issue. Tourists have been facing this problem from the beginning and it is causing a demoralizing impact on the tourists, he rued. Hence, necessary arrangements are made to cater to the needs of parking by tourists’ vehicles at Aerial Bay, Mr Roy urged the Administration. According to him, the existing floating jetty at Aerial Bay is quite small in size in commensurate with the number of tourist boats, and as a result, tourist boat owners often find difficulties in berthing their boats, Mr. Roy claimed.

The President of the association said that, Directorate of IP&T, Port Blair plays the crucial role in promoting tourism in our islands. “But sadly enough that, Diglipur tourism finds hardly any space in the chart/literature/brochure issued by this tourism Institute” he alleged. Diglipur should be prominently highlighted as much as possible with panoramic pics/photos of Diglipur’s tourist spots like Saddle Pick, Lamiya Bay Beach, Kalipur Beach, Ross & Smith Island, Ramnagar Beach, Talbagan Beach, Elizabeth Bay, Mud Volcano at Jal Tikrey (Haathi Level), Hawaibill Cave etc in the literature/brochure which will cater to the needs of the tourists in terms of their ready reference and this will undeniably encourage and boost tourism in much neglected Diglipur, Mr. Roys harbours the belief.

“Geographically Diglipur is located in the extreme North of A & N Islands and far away from the capital city of Port Blair and it is crippled with the problem of a staggering transportation system. It has been observed that, due to the poor transportation system, tourists prefer to avoid visiting Diglipur. Hence, the frequency of inter-island boat/ship service (between Port Blair/Shaheed Dweep/Swaraj Dweep & Diglipur and vice versa) should be augmented (to a desirable number of sailings) so as to win back the confidence of the tourists again” said Mr. Roy.

 

Rahul Singh & John Wilbert
Campbell Bay, April 26: Residents of Great Nicobar Islands have been fuming since the last few days due to the crisis of fuel at Great Nicobar and also the due to crisis of LPG Cylinders. Now adding to the plight the Islanders are now feeling the pinch of shortage of essential commodities. According to residents, lack of cargo and passenger-cum-cargo ships is the main reason behind such a disquieting situation in the last landmass of India. Residents alleged that there were cases when passenger-ships had been scheduled for Great Nicobar but no cargo was brought to the Great Nicobar, which is one of the major reasons behind the present situation.
Meanwhile, the Pradhan of Gram Panchayat, Campbell Bay has written a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman and highlighted the problems, which are being faced by residents of Great Nicobar.
In his letter the Pradhan mentioned that the groceries, ration items and other household materials for daily use are getting exhausted from the local market. He alleged that the Kalighat Ship which had sailed from Port Blair on 23rd April has not loaded cargo which may worsen the situation at Campbell Bay region.
“Being the independent far- flung Island, the public is totally depended on the local market. Due to scarcity of ration items like wheat, rice which are staple food, the people will start starving in the upcoming day,” the Pradhan added.
He demanded an alternate ship for the cargo movement from Port Blair to Great Nicobar.
The Pradhan also pointed out that post Covid lockdown the frequency of passenger ships has been drastically decreased which has affected the local public for travel from Campbell Bay to Port Blair for their personal needs during emergency & cannot plan to proceed to mainland as the ship schedule has been delayed.
He requested the DC, SA to provide a passenger ship on a weekly basis and a passenger ship en-route to Chennai from Port Blair via Campbell Bay and vice versa.
He also pointed out that the demand for LPG Cylinders is increasing day by day.
“The LPG Cylinder was last issued on February 20th 2022, thereafter no LPG cylinder was issued. This has resulted in starvation among the villagers,” the added.
The Pradhan demanded necessary directions for the immediate distribution of LPG Cylinders.
He also pointed out that Campbell Bay region is witnessing crises of petrol and diesel since the past few months.
“By the limited quantity supply of petrol and diesel transported from Port Blair to Campbell Bay region, the demands keep on rising, which has affected the daily routine of the individuals. The villagers are unable to travel from one place to another during an emergency. The parents are unable to drop their children to school facing shortage of petrol/diesel in their vehicles. The officials of various departments are unable to reach their respective offices due to shortage of petrol and resulting in delay in developmental works. The Electricity Department is also been affected by the shortage of diesel as they have circulated the notice for the general public informing about 4 hrs load shedding in the villages. The situation may worsen further if the demand for diesel keeps on increasing. As per the sources, there is limited quantity of diesel available in electricity department for a couple of weeks,” he pointed out
Andaman Sheekha tried to contact the Assistant Commissioner of Campbell Bay and Deputy Commissioner of Car Nicobar but both were too busy to reply to media questions on these major issues.
Later when contacted, Mr. Deepak Pundir, DANICS Director Civil Supply told Andaman Sheekha Daily that the Administration is putting efforts to supply all necessary items but due to unavailability of Cargo Ship things are delaying. “We are in touch with the Assistant Commissioner of Nicobar in this matter. Now we have information that Shakti-2 Cargo Ship is presently in Hut Bay, which will probably return tomorrow to Port Blair. If everything goes well we will send sufficient quantities of Petrol, Diesel and LPG cylinders and other essential items to Campbell Bay,” he added.

Port Blair, Mar 31: The Congress Party today steamrolled to a massive victory in the Zilla Parishad elections at North & Middle Andaman by winning Adhyaksha & Up-Adhyaksh seats declared by the State Election Commission (SEC).
In the election, Mrs. Elizabeth Martin was elected as Adhyaksha and Mr. Mahadev Gain was elected as Up-Adhyaksh. After the victory of Congress, ANTCC President Mr. Rangalal Halder and ANTCC Campaign Committee Chairman Mr. TSG Bhasker congratulated all Congress leaders and party workers for their efforts.
Mr. Rangalal Halder also extended wishes to the winning candidates for a “historic victory” and asserted that it was an outcome of the hard work carried out by Congress workers at ground level.
He also congratulated DCC President South Andaman Mr. V.K Abdul Aziz who was appointed as the In-charge for overseeing Zilla Parishad elections.

Rabindranath Biswas

Diglipur, March 16: An accident of a private bus was reported on Andaman Trunk Road today near Pailoon area under PS Kalighat/ GP Kishorinagar.

As per reports, the private bus ‘Anand’ was on its way to Diglipur from Port Blair and the cause of the accident was stated to be the loose soil at the brim of the road and the bus driver couldn’t rightly judge the loose earth.

As a result, the driver lost control and consequently the bus slid and ran aground tilted in the loose soil. Moreover, there was a fleet of trucks standing on the NH and the incident happened while maneuvering and passing by the bus to these vehicles, another source said.

The accident took place at about 03.30PM and no casualties have been reported in the accident. The passengers were evacuated/ shifted to an STS bus, a source said.

 

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, March 06: The Panchayat Election-2022 in Diglipur was held on Sunday (06/03/2022) under excellent security arrangement and COVID-19 protocols. The voting began at 07.00AM and continued till 05.00PM. The voting remained peaceful with the turnout ranging from 60% to 79% when report last came in, Election Officials said. Voters having health complaints were also seen turning up at the polling stations for exercising their franchise. No reports of trouble or violence any kind filtered in from any polling station, the Election Officials claimed.
The respective Presiding Officers of nearby polling booths have returned with ballot boxes from their polling stations in the evening and submitted to the concerned Officials while concerned polling officials from distant and remote places are yet to reach the Control and Stong Room with ballot boxes. After due verifications, these ballot boxes will be kept in the Strong Room made in the Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Diglipur, the source said. The counting of votes will take place on 8th March 2022, the source also said.