Port Blair, Oct 25: Under the Special Campaign 2.0 of the Swachhata Abhiyan, Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair carried out a series of cleanliness activities in and around the office and museum building from 2-19 October, 2022. Special cleanliness drive was carried out by clearing the bushes and garbage behind the office cum library building (on 2 October), behind the administrative cum Museum building (10 October), at the entrance gate of Zonal Anthropological Museum (ZAM) on 17 October 2022. All the staff of ANRC , Port Blair participated actively by cleaning the area and disposed of all the accumulated garbage and weeding out the grasses from the garden to create a visitors friendly ambiance at the entrance gate of the museum building .
Special drive towards utilization of unused museum campus and lying as dump yard for years has been initiated after clearing the bushy, non timber plants, wild grasses and traditional dwelling unit/hut of Nicobarese tribe of Nicobar island will be raised/constructed with the natural materials available from the habitat of the tribe to maintain the indignity and with the involvement of tribal leader/captain of Tribal Council as well as assistance of other local people.
As the tourists to Andaman are restricted to travel to Nicobar group of Islands (as declared the whole Nicobar Archipelago as tribal reserve area due to its tribal dominated locale) the display of traditional Nicobarese hut will be a place of tourist’s attraction. Moreover, our museum in Port Blair is an important tourist centre and situated in the heart of the town this live size Nicobarese hut will add value to the Museum as well as the Port Blair town. In the year 2004, due to catastrophic natural disaster caused by Tsunami, most of the traditional beehive dwellings had submerged due to high sea waves. As a part of reviving such traditional hut and for showcasing to the public, ANRC, Port Blair is initiating the work for installation with the active participation of the community members.
Under this special campaign 2.0, other initiatives are being planned to portray the tribal culture of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the traditional dwelling unit /hut of the particularly Vulnerable Tribal groups like Jarawa, and Shompen will be raised/constructed in the museum premises in collaboration with AAJVS & Tribal Welfare department. The Bushy backyard of the Office cum Auditorium building will be made a cultural landscape by planting flower saplings, medicinal plants (used by the tribal as well as local) and other ornamental plants towards beautifying the office premises in collaboration with CIARI, and a place of tourist attraction.
