Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, April 10: Even as the Lt. Governor of these islands strives for acquisition of more passenger vessels for these islands and flagged concerns at 2nd meeting of National Sagarmala Apex Committee, the apathy of the Shipping Corporation of India in maintaining the existing fleet has created resentment among the ship commuters. According to reports, lack of proper maintenance of two major vessels in the mainland sector has decreased the passenger capacity recently and repeated requests from the Directorate of Shipping Services for remedial measures has proved futile.
According to reports, two Life Boats on MV Swaraj Dweep have developed technical snags recently and the passenger capacity was reduced to 900. Similarly, two Life Boats on MV Nicobar too developed problems recently reducing the passenger capacity to 825. Interestingly, the vessel MV Swaraj Dweep returned after major retrofitting from Oman recently, but the technical snags in the Life Boats were not rectified by SCI at the Dry Docks.
“The Shipping Department has raised the issue with the SCI on numerous occasions, but to no avail. Regular maintenance of the two main passenger vessels are imperative for regular passenger trips. But the SCI would take none of it. The vessels in the mainland sector develop snags at regular intervals and the Shipping Department is forced to curtail sailings causing harassment to commuters. The snags on the two Life Boats of the vessels pose a serious security risk at seas. Though the passenger capacity has been reduced, the SCI should have taken the issue serious and rectified the defects promptly for passenger safety,” said an insider.
There is already shortage of ships for Mainland Sectors and those ships which are in operations are operating with reduced capacity. Before every sailing public can be seen fighting for ticket but thanks to SCI the capacity of ships has been reduced, creating further problem for public, especially for people from lower income groups.
It has been learnt that two Life Boats of MV Swaraj Dweep will be reinstalled in the ship during next trip to Kolkata, if everything goes well but there is no move to repair the Life Boats of MV Nicobar yet.

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, April 08: The villagers of Brichgunj, Brookshabad today blocked the main road in front of Municipal Office Brichgunj leading to the Army Cantonment demanding removal of Stone Crusher Units from the residential area.
The protest started today at 9.00 am wherein the villagers sat on an indefinite protest on the road. According to the villagers, there are many mini crushing units, stone crushing plants and a bitumen mixing plant functioning in the area, which the villagers say are illegal.
Villagers also alleged that even after the clear cut directions issued by the Deputy Commissioner on 22.06.2007 which clearly speaks that the entire road passing through Brichgunj Village up to the Quarry site at Brookshabad has closed for all kinds of Transport Vehicles of Quarry Products, the order is disobeyed by the owners of Crushing Units.
The villagers also complained that the uncontrolled stone crushing works has been emitting large amount of dust, causing endless miseries to the villagers.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha, the residents of the area said that due to the uncontrolled operation of crushing units the area is completely covered with the dust because of which they are unable do any agriculture or plantation works. They further claimed that most of the persons residing at Brichgunj, Brookshabad is suffering from either Asthma or Skin Disease just because of uncontrolled operation of crushing units.
According to reports, the villagers have decided to continue the strike till the Administration closes down these units from the village and also implements ban on plying of heavy commercial vehicles in the area.
Further Talking to Andaman Sheekha, Mrs Vaishali Rani Dayal, Ward Councillor said that the residents had written a letter on 31/03/2016 to the Lt Governor and also to various other departments demanding closure of these crushing units but the administration has neither taken any step in this regard nor has given villagers any kind of assurance.
Mrs Vaishali further made it clear that the villagers will continue their strike till their demands are fulfilled.

Staff Correspondent

Port Blair, April 07: Andaman’s Local Born Association (LBA) will hold a Massive Conference on April 10, 2016 to discuss various issues relating to the Pre-1942 community of these islands. One of the oldest associations of local residents LBA hold tremendous importance among old residents but the members are unhappy because of lack of importance given to LBA in Administrative matters.

Prominent issues which will be taken up during the Conference will be Participation of pre-1942 Communities in the Administration of A&N Islands; Implementation of Shekher Singh Commission’s recommendation as per the direction of Hon’ble Supreme court specially Inner line permit system in A&N Islands; allotment of land in favour of pre-1942 communities in these Islands and extending ownership right on the land holding of the pre-1942 community instead of tenancy; Recognition and allotment of excess land in possession of pre-1942 Community pertaining to the period pre-1942 as well as per 1978; Cancellation of acquisition of land acquired by the A&N Admn. In lieu of tsunami compensation; Cancellation of acquisition of plantations of Co-operative Societies of the pre-1942 Communities allotted to them prior to independence by the British Government for their livelihood; Preference in all appointment to the pre-1942 Communities; Issue of Andaman Nativity Certificate to pre-1942 Communities instead of local Certificate; Declaration the name of late Sher Ali as freedom fighter and payment of compensation from Japanese Govt. to all pre-1942 Communities of A&N Islands.

“The Administration has always done injustice to us. Our lands were taken by Administration but in return we got nothing. We have some prominent demands and time has come to raise voice for the same. During the conference we will decide about future course of action,” said Mr. John Lobo, former President and present Chairman of LBA.

The Maha Sammelan will be held at Historic Netaji Hall of Aberdeen Bazar from 9 am to 5 pm on 10 April 2016.

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, April 06: The battle of the Non-Government Association, Sahyog, is likely to take a legal turn with the NGO mulling over approaching the Court of Law for the rights of handicapped and people from the Other Backward Classes. Sahyog has been long demanding allotment of shops in the newly constructed Food Court near Marina Park to handicapped people and those from backward sections of the society. But the Municipal Council, which completed the construction of the Food Court few months ago, has been declining to accede to the demands.
Speaking to Andaman Sheekha, the President, Sahyog, Mr Akshay Pant said that a recent notice in the local newspapers published by the Municipal Council said that the civic body will allot shops at the Food Court to only those persons who carried out food business in the area for the last many years. “We’ve are not opposed to this idea, but the Council should consider allotment of atleast some shops to the needy sections of the society particularly handicapped and people from the backward sections. We’re considering all options and will not hesitate to approach the Court if our demands are not met,” said Mr Pant.
Moreover, as per an RTI document, the PBMC has not yet framed any guidelines for allotment of shops at the newly constructed Food Court. With any rules, the Council had planned to inaugurate the Food Court on the 26th of January this year. Such moves clearly indicate that corruption is involved in the process of allotment of shops at the Food Court, alleged Mr Pant.
Asked to comment of the allegations of corruption in allotment of shops, the Chairperson, Municipal Council, Smt Sheela Singh that the Council has adopted a transparent process for allotment of shops at the Food Court and that the delay is being caused just to keep the allotment process free of corruption. “The matter will be taken up in the next meeting of the Council and efforts will be made to allot the shops by next month,” she added.

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, Apt 05: In an interesting development one person stole the Donation Box of Police Temple today at wee hours, unaware of the fact that his act was recorded by the CCTV camera, placed inside the Temple premises.
According to details, one person entered inside the temple at wee hours today and removed the donation box from the temple’s main building and ran away with the box. The expert thief took only 15 to 20 minutes to remove the box, which was fixed with iron rods.
The matter was later reported to police at 4.00 AM and after watching the CCTV footage the thief was identified as Mr. N Elango, 48 years, a resident of Dignabad. Elango was earlier arrested by police for stealing a golden crown, from the same temple.
Police also found that there was another person who helped Mr. Elango in this act but was not seen in the CCTV footage. He was later identified as Mr. S Mohan Mani, 63 years, resident of Shadipur.
Although temple committee believes there was nearly Rs. 20,000 inside the donation box but only Rs. 6,000 could be recovered from both the accused. The donation box which was partially destroyed was also recovered from the accused.

Port Blair, Apr 04: Port Blair has witnessed a number of fatal road accidents recently but instead of taking safety of public on road seriously, authorities are taking things too lightly. It has found that many roads and speed breakers are without proper road markers, which is a serious threat for road users.
According to public many roads, such as the link road connecting Secretariat and Goal Ghar has been recently reconstructed and after this reconstruction the road level has risen up. As there is no reflective road markers on the both side driving vehicles during night hours have become risky, especially when there is a load shedding in the area.
Forget about city area, most of the road stretches of nearly created wards of Port Blair city do not have road markers. In these areas street lights often do not work and driving at night hours is a risky job for people.
As far as remote areas of South Andaman is concerned, reflective road marker is still a dream.
Adding to the pain most of the speed breakers in city do not have any kind of reflective marking, which is a serious threat for two wheelers.
There is an urgent need to conduct a survey and put white road markers on important road stretches so that driving at night becomes safe for public.

Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, April 03: While felling of the age-old tree near Hotel Shompen in Middle Point has brought respite for nearby residents and road users, the manner of execution has left many scratching their heads in despair. In today’s modern day technology and machinery, it took the APWD more than 24 hours to bring down a huge Sireesh tree and over 72 hours to clear the debris since Friday creating traffic chaos in the region. Non-involvement of expert agencies like NDRF in the operation has also become a subject of discussion among the city dwellers.
According to reports, the South Andaman Division following Court orders embarked on the exercise to chop down the huge tree last Friday. Hand saws were used to sever the massive trunk of the old tree and traffic was diverted completely leaving the Goal Ghar-Bengali Club virtually into a no-go zone. Though cops had a tough time managing traffic during the operation, unruly movement of vehicles damaged a number of road dividers at the Bengali Club Junction.
“It’s completely unbecoming of an agency like APWD to carry out a tree felling operation in such unprofessional manner. How can a department take such a long time to bring down a tree and clear the debris despite availability of modern day machineries? A few mazdoors were provided hand saws to chop down the huge tree near Hotel Shompen. After bringing down the tree, hands saws were again used to cut down the trunk to smaller pieces for further disposal. Latest equipments should have been procured from expert agencies like Fire Brigade for the operation. NDRF teams should have been employed for the exercise which could have reduced time significantly and prevented people from facing traffic commotion for three days,” opined some city resident.

DJ Venkatesh

Diglipur, March 31: Adopted under one of most touted schemes of the Central Government, villagers of Adarsh Gram, Ramnagar in Diglipur, North Andaman, continue to endure with lack of basic amenities.

According to reports, the village lacks piped drinking water for households, adequate power supply and even proper motorable roads. To ensure effective implementation of developmental schemes, the administration failed to appoint a Panchayat Secretary for the village even after six months of the local body elections.

Initially upbeat after Ramnagar was adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, villagers now allege that not a single developmental project has been executed in the village let alone providing basic civic amenities.

“More than six months has passed since the Panchayat elections, but not a single development work has been completed in our village. We’re promised better days after the village was adopted under the government scheme. But sadly nothing has happened on ground,” says a Ramnagar villager.

“Some households in this village have pipeline connections. But water supply remains irregular. People travel several distances to collect potable water from various sources. Some houses in the village even don’t have electricity connections. The Administration committed to develop tourism in this part of Diglipur, but not a single project has been initiated till date,” say some others.

Speaking to Andaman Sheekha, the Pradhan, Ramnagar, Mr Swapan Biswas said that several road projects for the village were initiated; but due to shortage of funds the projects couldn’t be completed as per schedule.

Absence of a Panchayat Secretary is another major reason behind the execution of developmental projects in this village. The concerns have been brought to the notice of the senior officials of the Administration, the Pradhan said.

The Panchayat Samity member of the area, Mr Jadhav Samaddar called for proper support from the administration for development of Ramnagar village. “A little thrust from administration will do wonders for the village with acceleration of developmental activities,” he said.

Port Blair, Mar 30: A basic course in Japanese language commenced at JNRM today with its inauguration by the Lt. Governor, A&N Islands, Lt. Gen AK Singh (Retd.) in the auditorium of JNRM this evening. The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Anindo Majumdar, Smt. Rupa Ray, Secretary (Education), Ms. Tanvi Garg, senior officers of the Administration, learners of Japanese language, students and Lecturers of JNRM, representatives of ACCI besides stakeholders in the tourism sector were present during the inaugural ceremony. “There is a great joy in learning new language and you will feel connected to another part of the world”, he said.
Addressing the gathering, the Lt. Governor emphasized that in today’s competitive world our students should also move forward and starting this course in the Islands is one such step in this direction. “Learning an additional language, especially a foreign language, will give our students an edge in seeking job not only in tourism sector but in other arenas too”, the Lt. Governor said. Learning any language is a great confidence building measure, he said, adding that the demand for having a course in this language here is an old one.
Emphasising the clarion call given by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to ‘Make in India’, the Lt. Governor said “we should be able to speak the language of the foreign investors in our country”.
Speaking about the progress being made in the communication sector in the Isles and the opportunities it will bring for the Islanders, the Lt. Governor stated that by 2018 the undersea Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) from Chennai connecting Port Blair and five other Islands will become reality. The work in this regard will commence in another 5 to 6 months, he said. The Lt. Governor reiterated that with this, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will become the best place for IT related industries and services like call centre etc. “Since our children are very good at languages, they will pick up foreign languages too, very fast, and as they are highly disciplined, they will find good job opportunities too”, he said, and called upon the youth to develop proficiency in foreign languages to prepare for 2019, by when the undersea optical fibre cable will be completely in place.
The Lt. Governor also asked the Principal, ANCOL and DBRAIT to start courses in other foreign languages in their colleges. Apart from Japanese, four more foreign languages viz. German, French, Russian, Chinese should be started in the Islands, he said. He also mentioned that owing to their hardwork and precision, Japan has come up post World War-II and asked the new learners to also understand Japanese culture and their good qualities.
Complementing all stakeholders for this initiative, the Lt. Governor also asked the Secretary (Education) to explore possibilities of providing advanced course in Japanese language to the learners.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary, Shri Anindo Majumdar expressed happiness on the launch of this basic course in Japanese language. “It will fulfil the long felt demand of the people of the Islands to learn Japanese”, he said, emphasizing the need to learn other international languages as well. Learning foreign languages will open many job opportunities for the Islanders, the Chief Secretary said. The Chief Secretary also thanked Prof. Jayanta Misra for volunteering to teach Japanese language.
Prof. Jayanta Kr. Mishra, HoD, Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, Campus, Brookshabad, who is the resource person of this course, in his address, expressed gratitude to the Lt. Governor for starting this course. About the language, he said Japanese is a very simple language and one can learn to speak and read Japanese very easily. He expressed hope that the learners will enjoy learning the language.
A two minutes’ silence was also observed to pay respect to those who achieved martyrdom during Japanese occupation in these Islands.
Earlier welcoming the gathering, the Principal, JNRM, Dr. Francis Xavier said that arrangements to start the basic course in Japanese language in JNRM has been done within a very short span of time and assured that a course in French will be started soon. Besides, some skill development courses will also be introduced in JNRM in the coming days, he said. The students of JNRM presented a Japanese dance befitting the occasion.
The programme was coordinated by Asst. Professor, JNRM, Ms. Jochi Bed while it concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by Ms. Maseem, Member, Student Council, JNRM.