Sheekha Bureau
Port Blair, Dec 03: Another rural revolt is in the offing as villagers of Neil Island are strongly objecting to inclusion of their territory in the Master Plan for Havelock and Neil Island for development under the A & N Islands Town and Country Planning Regulations. Neil residents claim that the move of the administration will adversely affect the agriculturalists and age-old settlements in the region.
Villagers, instead, are demanding holistic promotion of tourism and development of farming infrastructure in the region. A recent Gram Sabha meeting of Neil Island has unanimously resolved to reject the inclusion of Neil Island in the Master Plan, according to sources.
During a recent Gram Sabha meeting, many villagers exerted pressure on the PRI members to move the administration for exclusion of Neil Island from the development Master Plan. Many villagers claimed that the current pace development of Neil Island would suffice and there is no need for any Master Plan for Neil. The administration should focus on promotion of agro-tourism in Neil, said many during the open discussion held at the Gram Sabha.
“Neil Island in an agricultural land. Villagers here have been traditional agriculturalists since ancient settlements.
Lately, tourism has made inroads here. But the current pace of development is sufficient. If included in the Master Plan, commercial areas will be earmarked and discrimination will come into practice during acquisition of land. In fact, land in Neil Island should be either marked as agricultural land or commercial plots. Tourism has become the mainstay business for many in Neil and every player in the industry should be accorded equal opportunity for livelihood,” claimed some villagers during the meeting.
“Instead of focusing on the Master Plan, the administration should put effort to provide other necessary facilities for Neil Island.
Frequency of boats to Neil should be increased and dredging work at Jetty should be started to facilitate berthing of larger vessels.
Besides sewage and sanitation issues have long been demanding the attention of the administration. Agro-tourism should be promoted at Neil. Similarly, organic farming, facilities for promoting agriculture are other areas on which the administration should primarily focus, instead of rushing for the Master Plan,” maintained others.
According to information, Mr Sukumar Das, PRI member, has submitted a petition signed by more than thousand residents of Neil Island with appropriate reasons for exclusion of Neil Island from the Master Plan 2034 to the top brass of the local administration.
