Port Blair, Jan 21: The Andaman and Nicobar Unit of Bharatiya Janta Party today condemned a report published by a local daily on 19.01.2013 regarding Buffer Zone and urged public not to be misled by such “biased reporting”.
In a press release Mr. Neelkant, the State Office in-charge, today said that it is publicly known that the Administration created the controversial buffer zone for vested gains.
“The Administration through the notification brought 31 revenue villages in its ambit without public consultation, hence kept the said notification out of public space without implementing it for years together It was the BJP and its MP, which alerted the public about the controversial notification and the damage that the buffer zone is going to cause to the livelihood and landholdings of the settlers and other residents of these areas. The BJP therefore opposed the buffer zone since the day it was created. Since the Administration was in denial mode, the MP had to raise the issue in the Parliament and on various other public forums,” he said.
Targeting Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma directly, Mr. Neelkant added that “The PCC and its President Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma remained a mute spectator thus lending support to the Administration and the controversial buffer zone notification. People of these Islands are aware of it. Following the Island wide protest by BJP, other political parties, general public and the July, 2012 Supreme Court Order declining the Administration plan to allow tourism activity in Baratang that the blunder was exposed. The collective effort forced the Administration to take back the buffer zone notification which they themselves created but found it impractical to implement.”
