Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Feb. 10: Plagued by several hardships owing to non-existence of the basic infrastructures in their village, the denizens of a remote village called Nischintapur under Gram Panchayat Kalighat, Tehsil Diglipur, Dist. North & Middle Andaman have come up with a plethora of issues which have been severely affecting their day-to-day life for the last couple of decades.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha, they said that their ancestors were settled under a colonization scheme in the village in the year 1960 by the Govt. of India and initially there were only 19 families which now have expanded to 43 families.
They bemoaned that their village is totally cut off from the mainstream of development and the villagers are still leading a hardscrabble life due to non-availability of roads, bridge, health service centres, community halls, transport facilities, telephone/mobile network, street lights, veterinary centres etc.
Except electricity and drinking water facilities, no other services are provided in this village in a proper way, they alleged. Talking to the Andaman Sheekha, they said that there is no single puckka road in this village since 1960; the villagers have to walk about 5 to 7 kms on the bumpy & muddy track through the natural reserve forests and then wading through mangrove to reach to market, hospital, school etc situate at Kalighat, their only nearby town for availing other basic facilities. There are a couple of brooks with no culvert to cross over; a footbridge (built with a piece of long log placing across it and bamboo support) is the adopted means of their transportation system, they rued. But the movement becomes highly dangerous and risky for the children, elderly, CWSN (Divyang), sick and most importantly the pregnant women of their village are the most vulnerable, they further added.
In emergency like venomous snake-bite, crocodile attack etc these victims are carried in stretchers (made with cloth & bamboo). However, instances are there that, in the event of non-availability of four persons for carrying the victim in stretcher at night, many lost their lives in such cases.
Owing to the non-existence of a bridge over the creek of Kalighat, people lost their lives due to capsizing of dinghy, drowning and crocodile attack, they bemoaned. “The local administration built a 100 mtr long and 1.5 mtr width wooden footbridge over the Kalighat Creek and which proves to be a death-trap in every rainy season. Some time a part of this footbridge is washed away by floodwaters with heavy current and sometimes it gets damaged and becomes highly risky. We have to repeatedly urge the administration for its early repair so as to facilitate our movement through this sole wooden footbridge” the dismayed inhabitants further elucidated.
There is a sub-centre but no regular health worker stays there at night, they make irregular visits to this sub-centre. They maintain the records while the facts are the other way round, they alleged. Under the given situation, villagers have to bear the brunt of perilous journey in reaching PHC, Kalighat for availing even minor treatment, they further revealed.
Highlighting their points they further disclosed that the village lacks a community hall, a playground for children and a veterinary centre. The village is plagued with the problem of no connectivity of mobile network and thus remains totally cut off from the rest of the world. Infrastructures are the basic systems that undergird the structure of the economy of an area; but primarily, owing to non-existence of road in the village, denizens have to practice age-old head carrying method and transport their goods; and this is the prime reason the villagers have ceased to produce crops for marketing and this in turn has further wreaked havoc on their economy.
Another eye-opening fact is that, many families are not willing to allow their children to marry deserving youths of the village because there is no proper communication system like, road & transport, mobile network, etc. in place.
The foremost and most rudimentary requirement of the village is the immediate construction of a 10-12 km pucca road from Subhash Roy House of Madhyamgram village to Late Kedari Nath Halder house of Nishchintapur (5 family) under Diglipur Tehsil to bridge the gap between this backward and much neglected village Nishchintapur and Kalighat, they residents of this remote area urged.
They further said that, the construction of this proposed pucca road through the desired area will ensure the direct benefits of 04 villages namely- Nishchintapur, Kalighat, Madyamgram and Narayan Tikrey and about 1500 to 2000 villagers will be the beneficiaries.
They only want that their long cherished demands of a pucca road, a primary school, 24 hrs medical service, check-dams, ring wells and other basic requirements are fulfilled and are rescued from the quagmire of backwardness.
Earlier, they approached the administration of these islands several times and apprised the concerned authorities about the plight of their living condition and the officialdoms assured them of redressal each time but gradually their assurance turned only to lip-service and these denizens we are still in the same state of sheer adversity, they bemoaned.
They have shot a letter to the Prime Minister of India and the Home Minister of India for early redressal of their grievance, they said.

Saleem Javed & Savita Kumari
Port Blair, Jan 31: Here’s a story from tiny village of Tiruvanchikulam village under Gram Panchayat Shivapuram, Betapur, Middle Andaman, that is too heartwarming to be true.
Mr. Sonai Muthu, a resident of Shivapuram has built a mini Taj Mahal to honour his beloved wife, who passed away in a road accident on 29 January 2020.
Today on 30th January 2022 the Mini Taj Mahal replica, named Devi Mahal, was inaugurated in loving memory of his wife Late Sunita Devi.
Mr. Muthu, a businessman by profession, said when his wife was alive, she had once asked him for a tiny model of Taj Mahal for home decoration but unfortunately, he could not gift the same to her at that point of time but now after her death he worked dedicatedly to construct the Taj Mahal replica in her memory.
The replica of the Taj Mahal has been built on her grave and Mr. Muthu has decided to allow all public to visit the Devi Mahal and keep it open for all visitors.

 

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Jan. 06: BJYM, Diglipur held a rally in the evening here today against the Congress led Charanjit Singh Channi govt. in Punjab against its alleged security lapses on the Honourable Prime Minister of India who was on a scheduled visit to Punjab for holding public meeting yesterday. They shouted slogans against the Congress Party and Rahul Gandhi & Smti Sonia Gandhi in the rally which started from BJP Office and ended at Diglipur Bazaar Chowk. They alleged that it was a well orchestrated plan of putting the PM’s life at risk in Punjab yesterday. This was not only an attack at the PM Office but also a deliberate attempt to subvert the democracy itself, BJYM shouted in their slogans. After strongly condemning the Channi govt., BJYM burnt the effigies of Punjab CM and Mr. Rahul Gandhi at around 07.00 PM at Diglipur Bazaar Chowk, a source said.

 

Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Dec. 30: The general public of Diglipur and stakeholders, dealing in landed property, have raised the issue of E-Stamp. According to them, although registration of land has resumed in Diglipur and elsewhere in N & M Andaman District, the constraints they have been facing in the procurement of ‘e-stamp’ of higher value/denomination from the Canara Bank, Port Blair is quite troublesome.

“In fact, we have to face an untold hassle to obtain the instrument. We have to go to Port Blair to obtain the e-stamp from the sole financial institute Canara Bank issuing these e-stamps,” a resident of Diglipur told Andaman Sheekha today.

It takes about a week to process and get the stamps from this lone bank, they alleged. They further bemoaned that, staying a week in Port Blair is reasonably unaffordable for many of them as it involves a high expenditure.

Besides, though restrictions on movement in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic situation considerably eased, it is not feasible to make movement to Port Blair for a single cause, they further argued.

As per report, in wake of this problem, stakeholders have decided to write to the Deputy Commissioner, N & M Andaman, Mayabunder for her intervention into the matter and an early redressal to it.

They said that if the arrangement of issuance of these e-stamp papers is done from Canara Bank, Diglipur Branch, the cited problems being faced by them can be eliminated, they believe.

For this to implement, the extension of one more counter (to be equipped with the technical facilities) of the bank issuing e-stamps or with another option- that the necessary filled-in forms may be submitted at Canara Bank, Diglipur Branch by the stakeholders and after due process, the e-stamps may be dispensed to the applicant at the Diglipur Branch itself by the banking staff, they suggested.

Trinath & Savita Kumari
Port Blair, Dec 09: Mrs. Anjali Sehrawat, IAS, Deputy Commissioner of North and Middle Andaman today informed media that under direction of Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Administration several steps have been taken by the District Administration, NMA to ensure the quality of NH4 is maintained and grievances of public related to the condition of ATR is addressed.
Talking to media, the DPort Blair, Dec 09: The protest by the Baratang Tourist Fiber Boat Owners Association (BTFBOA) being staged at Baratang Jetty completed its fifth day today but till now the Administration has failed to find any solution to this issue.
Fighting for some genuine demands, the BTFBOA has been demanding to reinstate the Convoys between Jirkatang & Middle Strait as it was before Covid-19 pandemic; removing limit of vehicles in each convoy, which is restricting tourist footfall in Baratang Island; Revoking the mandate of taking 1-day prior permission from concerned Deputy Commissioners of South and North & Middle Andaman; expediting the process for registration/renewal of our fiber boats; one-time Registration of Fiber Boat at DC Office Mayabunder; withdrawing berthing charges on discarded vessels; Two separate lines at Ferrargunj for Covid Test one for passengers with single vaccine dose and one for double dose and to conduct Covid test for Middle Andaman visit one day ago.
Earlier, the Assistant Commissioner of Rangat Mr. Piyush Vijaykaran Singh, DANICS, had reached Baratang Island and met with the boat operators of Baratang on 7th December. He had assured to take up this matter with DC North and Middle Andaman.
eputy Commissioner today said that some people have grievances and there were agitations regarding the condition of NH4 and considering the same some steps have been taken to fix responsibility of NHIDCL in this regard.
She said that instructions have been issued for taking video footage of the condition of NH4 and other than that presence of Assistant Commissioner has been made mandatory while lifting samples of NH4 by Central Road Research Institute.
Apart from this, for grievance redressal of the general public, the NH4, which has been divided into several packages by NHIDCL authorities, the mobile numbers of concerned site engineers and authority engineers have been taken, which will be soon published.
With the help of these numbers, everyone can register their complaints and according to the contract file, the NHIDCL contractors have to solve these complaints, registered by the general public, within 24 to 72 hours.
“I hope that with these steps, taken by Administration, the accountability will be fixed”, she added.