Located in the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman and Nicobar Group of 572 Islands (of which a mere 36 are populated) lies only 193 km away from Cape Negrais in Myanmar while it is 1255 km from Kolkata and 1190 km from Chennai. The traditional wisdom of the tribals, patronizingly labeled ‘primitive’ by the ‘civilized world’, provides glimpses of a truly democratic and just society where people recognize no differentiation based on caste, class or gender – attributes that have become the bane of our ‘modern’ societies.

While India has one of the richest ranges of biodiversityand is acknowledged as one of the top twelve nations in terms of mega-diversity, the Islands harbor a diverse range of ecosystems from coral reefs, mangroves, sandy beaches to dense forest covered hill slopes and grass lands. The coral reefs here are the second richest found in the world, with about 80% of the maximum coral diversity found anywhere in the world.

The Islands are a vast and precious storehouse of plant genetic resources, medicinal plants, and wild varieties of economically important cultivated plants. They contribute at least 220 species to the endemic flora of India. Highly threatened marine animals, such as dugongs and marine turtles, use this habitat essentially as feeding ground. The Islands comprise 0.2% of the geographical area of South Asia but possess nearly 12% of its endemic avifauna. These islands form two of the 221 endemic bird areas across the world. Although there are 105 protected areas (PAs) in the Islands, their ecosystems continue to be under threat due to the impact of human activity.

Over the decades since Indian Independence, thousands of families from the Indian mainland were settled on the Islands in search of livelihood. Friends and relatives of these old settlers also prefer to settle near them, resulting in encroachment of forest land surrounding the original settlements. In the absence of adequate monitoring and enforcement capacities, these encroachments flourish and grow. A considerable proportion of these settlers come from regions as diverse as Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bengal and even Burma and Sri Lanka. While the communities follow their respective cultural and religious practices, they constitute a unique melting pot of multicultural, multilingual communities who live in harmony. The use of Hindi became the common language – and link – among all the communities. Most households practice agriculture and sale of forest produce (legal and illegal) as the main sources of livelihood. A few are in relatively secure Government employment, making it the aspiration of most literate youth.

Human pressure on the restricted land space is rapidly increasing in excess of the carrying capacity of the Islands. This is causing heavy damage to biodiversity. Habitat degradation with resultant species loss, pollution, introduction of alien species and the adverse impacts of tourism are among the serious problems. The demands on the biological resources are overwhelming because of the continuous influx of migrants and settlers from the mainland.

Policies of various Departments are at conflict with each other, though their common objective is sustainable development. Despite adequate legislation towards protecting the environment, the dominant economic priorities continue to pose a threat to the fragile ecosystems. Cooperation between local communities and Forest Department is inadequate, resulting in limited success of State initiatives to minimize the adverse impacts of human activity on the environment.

The Central Ministry of Environment & Forests had launched the National Green Corps (NGC) Program in 2001-02 to create a cadre of young green corps and boasts over 91,000 eco-clubs functioning across the country (in 2006 – 2007), covering “most of the States and Union Territories”. This Program, claimed to be one of the largest environmental conservation networks in India, has had Nil implementation in the A&N Islands for many years, as per data procured directly from the Ministry.

Administering the scattered islands and their pockets of human settlements from the capital of Port Blair is a challenging task. Despite the creation of three districts purportedly for better governance of the 36 inhabited islands, much remains to be achieved to give people access to basic essentials like education, health, livelihood, connectivity and basic infrastructure. All Islands are not easily accessible by sea or land, and telephony is limited to certain areas of habited locations. During the monsoons, the situation is worsened and some areas are temporarily cut off due to inaccessibility and breakdown of communication facilities.

According to the State Development Report of the A & N Islands, 2006, prepared by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, the retention rate of students remains poor, performance of students measured in terms of percentage of students passed at all levels, especially in Class X, also remains poor. The suicide rate has been on increase. Alcoholism is another problem and is rising.

The absence of transport and communication infrastructure accentuates a sense of isolation and marginalization among the communities and restricts the availability of information and opportunities. For instance, schools are difficult to access in the monsoons due to absence of roads and bridges, and for many months in a year, attendance in schools is erratic.

Consequently, only a small section of the rural communities residing in remote settlements is literate, yet most families are very keen to send their children to school, in the hope that the coming generations will have better opportunities to improve their lives. In nearly every school in the remote Islands, many children walk long distances from their scattered villages to the nearest school to obtain an education.

Limited circulation of a Port Blair-based, State-run newspaper is the only presence of the print media across the three districts, in addition to a few smaller periodicals published daily/weekly. Although a few rural households have televisions, many settlements do not even have electricity. In areas that receive transmission, Radio is often the only source of information about the world outside, including other Islands in the A&N archipelago.  

Macro concerns identified during the Pilot Project

The current direction is not being determined by the administration or any other institution, resulting in a ham-handed approach to the stupendous growth of this sector on the Islands. Employment options are not being explored, resulting in few benefits to the local communities.

The growth of the Tourism sector, if directed and focused, can reap huge benefits for the local communities and enable sustainable development of the Islands. Eco-friendly Tourism will help maintain the ecological balance and protecting the limited natural resources of the Islands, with the pristine virginal beauty of the Islands being the USP. The emphasis must be on generating livelihood opportunities and ensuring that the carrying capacity of the Islands is not violated. The locals themselves must take responsibility for the protection of the Islands and attract resources for conservation methods by their own initiatives.

This necessarily requires the incentive of economic benefits to be had from protecting the environment. This can be ensured by promoting eco-tourism and rural tourism. Trained tourist guides can be selected from among the locals and employed on high-value tourism to share information about the uniqueness of the rich natural wealth of the Islands and emphasize the importance of its conservation.

Opportunities for livelihood for educated youth are limited, with the result that unemployment levels are substantially high. While tourism opens some new sources of income as Tourist guides and Tour Operators, many youth do not have the entrepreneurial capacity required for start ups and take up odd jobs that earn them an inconsistent income.

The concomitant hazards of tourism are a matter of concern to local residents, particularly the elders, who cite undesirable trends such as strained social relations among families caused by economic changes and new lifestyles, suspected child abuse and increasing instances of child labor.  

Education and awareness of the impact of political agendas are crucial to manage the inevitable detrimental effect on the social fabric of this unique multi-cultural, multi-religious cluster of communities who have lived in harmony for generations. In the light of increasing intolerance across the country, the benefits of peaceful cohabitation must be emphasized at all available forums.

The inadequate availability of these basic facilities poses the biggest challenge and deterrent to equitable development since it accentuates a sense of isolation and restricts the availability of information and opportunities.