A Decade of Uneasy Calm
A DECADE OF UNEASY CALM
following acceptance of Sekhar Singh Commission report on A&N Islands
The issue has its origin in 1998, when Kalpavriksh,
a Pune
based NGO reportedly carried out a study on the
indigenous peoples and forests of Andaman islands which ended in reporting violations
in logging activities in Little Andaman Island by the Forest Corporation.
Thereafter the Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology (SANE) a local NGO, Kalpavriksh and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) filed
a joint petition with the Port Blair Bench of the Calcutta High Court and
later approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court. During the course of hearing, the Hon’ble Supreme Court
extended the case to cover the entire A&N Islands and subsequently Prof Shekhar Singh of the Indian Institute
of Public
Administration
(IIPA), New Delhi was appointed Commissioner
(one man commission) to look into the forests and other allied matters of A&N Islands
Prof Shekhar Singh submitted his report in February 2002 with a preface that reads “This report has been
prepared under the directions of the Supreme Court of India A&N Islands
May 2012 ie., a decade after acceptance of the Sekhar Singh Commission report, the list of achievements among other things
include complete closure of all four wood based manufacturing industries namely
: M/S WIMCO of Haddo and M/S Andaman Timber Industries (ATI) of Bambooflat both in South Andaman, M/S Kitply Industries of Long Island and M/S Jayshree Timber Products of Bakultala both in Middle Andaman.
One may argue, these industries closed well before the May 2002 order was actually passed, yet it remains true that
even if the factories did not foreclose, they could have failed to operate
given the nature of recommendations of the one man commission. Thousands of
peoples employed in either of these factories lost their livelihood at the
stroke of a pen. The worst sufferers were those employed in ATI in Bambooflat. The ATI management tactfully halted operation, decommissioned its
machinery, moved the entire stock of plywoods from its warehouse including few
trusted officers and machines to mainland and disappeared from the islands
without paying retirement and other dues to a large chunk of its employees. Estranged,
the employees stood dumb, their faces sunk and mind clueless on what went wrong.
Whom they should approach with their grievance! Sadly, even after lapse of a
decade, the workers are still carrying on their forehead the epithet of being
cheated by their masters.
Further, private sawmills operating at various places has since
been decommissioned, locals are now forced to import their requirements of sawn
timber for construction and allied works from mainland which in turn is being
imported from neighboring foreign countries.
Similarly, Sand required for construction, which was hitherto collected locally
from the beaches of Andamans has been phased off completely. Consequently, unlike
other essential commodities and doles from Union Government, Sand has also been added in the list of items imported from
mainland in containers. It would be interesting to note the entire quantity of Sand required for construction is currently being imported from
Andhra Pradesh to the islands through Chennai port, as if the mainland environment is immune to
damage!
Obviously the sand which has its origin in one or the other
river banks at Andhra Pradesh or elsewhere in mainland India, travels several
thousand miles on board, truck, containers, ships etc and also change hands at
many places before landing in a port at Port Blair. The kiloliters of fuel spent in Sand excavation, transportation, repeated loading and
unloading at various depots, ports and the commission at every point the
consignment changes hand, is finally added to the imported sand and sold at a
premium to the islanders surrounded by beaches abound with sand. Unfortunately no body talks about the gigantic
Caron Foot Print the imported sand posses in travelling from mainland!
Next in the list is Quarry
operation, which is also tracing a path which the local sand mining followed
almost a decade back. The recent turn of events surrounding the quarry
operation probably suggest it is only a matter of time before stone aggregates and
other quarry products too would be imported from mainland. Those few engaged in
the trade are already making merry whereas the hapless islanders is silently
preparing itself to bear the additional burnt on its pocket.
Oblivious of these developments outside,
the Jarawa
tribes registered a population
growth rate of over 50% in the last decade. Yet experts and the self proclaimed
guardians of Jarawas still remains noncommittal in accepting the positive
growth rate and find it worth propagating the misplaced threat perception about
the tribes.
Ironically the NGO’s
which originally stood to speak for the Onge tribes of Little Andaman of
late have left them midway at the mercy of nature. Their entire attention and
energy now stands invested towards another tribe Jarawa and the arterial road named ATR (Andaman
Trunk
Road)
which is the only road connecting capital town Port Blair in the South to Diglipur
in the North Andamans.
Incidentally, the Island Administration
as usual is cool, calm and collected in their approach. And those NGO’s (International,
National
supported by Local) and select activists are working overtime planting
miscommunication in the media, much of which are highly biased, misleading and
drifted away from truth. Despite all the oddities, the islanders continue to
exhibit exceptional tolerance, accepting anything to everything, whether given
or taken-away. Sab chalta hai!
This post was carried in Echo of India dated 10 May, 2012.
This post was carried in Echo of India dated 10 May, 2012.
Comments