Vikramaditya & John Wilbert
Port Blair, Oct 07: In a major decision, the District Administration of South Andaman has allowed sailing of one vessel for Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep on 9th October and one vessel for Campbell Bay on 12th October 2020, confirmed Mr. Suneel Anchipaka, the Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman today.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha the Deputy Commissioner confirmed that MV Bambooka will sail for Swaraj Dweep on 9th October 2020 and after its return and complete sanitization it will again sail for Shaheed Dweep on the same day with all stranded passengers.
But he mentioned that all passengers will have to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols strictly.
He also said that all passengers will have to undergo RT-PCR test before sailing and also they will have to remain in mandatory quarantine for 7 to 14 days, after reaching their respective islands.
He added that no human being will want to make other human being suffer. The restrictions on movement of vessel are for the safety of people of other Islands as, if there is a spike in COVID-19 cases in Islands like Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep, it will be very difficult to manage the situation, the Deputy Commissioner added, because those Islands have limited health facilities.
Earlier today a group of Islanders from Swaraj Dweep reached BJP office to share problems that they are facing at Port Blair. Some passengers spoke to Andaman Sheekha in this regard and said that they have to pay more than Rs. 1600 per day for lodging and boarding at Port Blair, which is difficult for many. A few others said that they had to borrow money for others to manage the show at Port Blair.
This decision of Administration will be of great relief for stranded people of all these Islands as now they will reach their respective Islands safely.
