The "Buffer Zone" Fiasco
Is A&N I slands onl y about E nvironment, F orests, W ildlife, and T ribes? If the answer is NO , then how come there are 31 G ovt settled revenue villages under B uffer Z one? Andaman and N icobar I slands used to be a place appreciated for peaceful coexistence, untill a cat named B uffer Z one ( BZ ) was let out of the bag on 08/12/2010 , ie the day Buffer Zone was implemented in select areas of A ndaman I slands. Since then islanders, especially settlers from N orth and M iddle A ndamans are having sleepless nights for the reason - the controversial B uffer Z one N otification ex post facto brought 31 historically settled revenue villages into its ambit, that too without public discussion. A look into the background reveals the issue could be traced to S ept 2004 notification ( N o 159/2004/F No 1-752/2002-TW (PF) dated 15/09/2004 ) wherein a bunch of GPS points ( L atitude and L ongitude) relating to some parts of S outh and M iddle A ndaman were released and the...