Port Blair, Nov 11 2020
COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways disrupted the lives of the citizens living in all parts of the Islands. Economically it has disrupted the lives of the workers in the unorganised sectors and small and medium business owners.
People were confined in their homes for months and Andaman and Nicobar Islands managed to achieve zero COVID-19 cases. The daily flight operations were restarted in the country and then the Islands witnessed another wave of COVID-19. Learning from the mistakes in the past, Andaman and Nicobar Administration imposed severe restrictions on travel within the Islands, to protect the more vulnerable population living on the far flung Islands. More vulnerable because of non-availability of proper health care facilities and logistical difficulties which would have made it very difficult for the authorities to manage, if the cases would have piled up.
Even after the precautions and the restrictions, COVID-19 managed to reach the Southernmost Island of India. Everything seems calm and quiet now for the Islands of the Southern Group, where according to the latest data received in the Health Bulletin, only three isolation beds are occupied out of the 26 available ones.
Several residents of the Nicobar Group were stuck in Port Blair, different parts of the Island and the mainland, who after the waters calmed returned back, hoping to go back to their home towns. These residents faced several issues and ultimately managed to go back to their hometowns.
The need for more travel originated after the colleges announced their exams, Administration made arrangements for it and the students were facilitated to travel for their exams in a safe manner.
Then college counselling were scheduled and more students and parents wanted to travel. Fast forward to this day there are still hundreds, if not thousands of people who are in urgent need to travel from South Andaman District to different places in Nicobar District. The administration is still reluctant to facilitate travel of large number of people to and fro from Nicobar District for very obvious reasons.
The residents of Campbell Bay, Great Nicobar are waiting for a ship to be scheduled for a longtime now. The last ship that sailed for Campbell Bay from Port Blair was on 25th of October 2020. The next ship that the Administration has scheduled recently is on 18th of November 2020.
That is a very considerable gap between two ship sailings for Campbell Bay. This move of the administration has angered the residents of Great Nicobar and the local WhatsApp groups are full with call for protests. Several youths leaders are gearing up now to protest against the restrictive travel policies of the Administration in Campbell Bay.
Further the Directorate of Shipping Services has added fuel to the fire by scheduling M.V Sentinel for Campbell Bay. MV Sentinel is an age old ship which takes almost four days to reach Campbell Bay from Port Blair. The Ship is quite unhygienic for travel and is nearly in its grave. The air conditioning in the ship is not proper and it is not suitable for long distance voyages in a passengers perspective. Further the DSS has scheduled MV Coral Queen for Diglipur on 26th of November 2020. The young residents of Great Nicobar are now questioning the motive of the A & N Administration behind such a move.
The residents were hoping that a sailing for Campbell Bay will be scheduled from Port Blair before Diwali, but nothing of that sort was done and the passengers will have to wait for another week before they can travel to Great Nicobar.
Shri. Ajoy Bairagi, State President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has written to the Administration several times in the past demanding transportation facilities for various Islands and he has always reminded them that the Ministry of Home Affairs has time and again clarified that no restrictions should be imposed on inter-state and intra-state travel, but the A & N Administration has its own reasons for restricting the flow of passengers to various Islands.
It is to be seen that what brews in Campbell Bay and how does the Administration react to it.
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