Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 12 August 2021
Nicobar Times on 29th May 2021 had reported about a dangerous tree standing in vicinity of Shelter No. 17(A) at Shastri Nagar Campbell Bay which was not removed even after 2+ years of writing to the Assistant Commissioner, Campbell Bay.
The said dangerous tree was removed from the vicinity of the house of Shri. Balram Singh on 11th August 2021 with help provided by Shri. E S Rajesh, Ex-Pradhan, Laxmi Nagar Gram Panchayat. It is being reported that the Ex-Pradhan provided labours and equipment to remove the dangerous tree as the local administration was not taking the request seriously and were delaying the removal of the dangerous tree for bizarre reasons.
The entire cost of the removal of tree was borne by the Ex-Pradhan because he couldn’t stand the possibility of the house getting damaged and the family getting hurt incase the tree falls.
The local villagers informed Nicobar Times that they were tired of visiting the Assistant Commissioner Office so they approached Mr. E S Rajesh, Ex-Pradhan to help them and he immediately swung into action and removed the dangerous tree from the vicinity of the house of Mr. Balram Singh.
As per the general public of Gram Panchayat Laxmi Nagar, there are several dangerous trees standing near houses and residential areas in Joginder Nagar, Laxmi Nagar and Gandhi Nagar Villages, people have already requested the authorities multiple times to remove them but the local administration of Campbell Bay is not at all serious about removing these trees which pose a threat to life and property of the remote Islanders.
In case of Mr. Balram Singh the story was reported by Nicobar Times and was brought to the attention of the senior officers of A & N Administration but no action was taken by the authorities. It seems that the Administration is not at all serious about the threat to life and property posed by these dangerous trees.
Many residents of Laxmi Nagar Gram Panchayat complained to Nicobar Times that whenever they approach the authorities they shift the blame to some other department and are least interested in doing their job.
It is being alleged that joint inspection teams are formed by the local authorities in case of political and administrative pressure, this join inspection team inspects the dangerous trees by visiting the site, but nothing fruitful has ever been achieved.
Further, the officials have informed some residents that the Assistant Commissioner will just pass the order for removal of tree and the residents will have to get them removed by themselves. Most of the residents in Laxmi Nagar Gram Panchayat lives in Permanent Tsunami Shelters allotted by Andaman and Nicobar Administration and these occupants of Permanent Tsunami Shelters do not have the ownership of their house. The ownership of the Permanent Tsunami Shelter sill lies with A & N Administration. Most of the complaints for removal of dangerous trees which are lying pending with the local administration are for removal of dangerous trees from the vicinity of Permanent Tsunami Shelters. The residents are now questioning that since they are not the owners of the Permanent Tsunami Shelter, how can they be expected to remove the dangerous trees by themselves. They argue that incase the house gets damaged due to some reason while removal of the tree by them, who will be responsible.
On 11th August 2021 two people lost their lives when a dangerous tree fell on their house early in the morning at South Andaman District. Earlier on 23rd May 2021 one young soul lost his life after a tree fell on his house at Chouldari, South Andaman.
The question here is, who will be responsible incase such an incident happens in some remote village of Campbell Bay. The nearest village in Laxmi Nagar Gram Panchayat is located 8 Kms away from the Fire Station and the farthest village is located 35 kms away from the Fire Station. In case of any accident the rescue team of the Fire Station will take a lot of time to reach the spot and to start the recuse, the lives of the residents will be in danger.
It is best to take precautionary measures by removing all the dangerous tress from the vicinity of all residential areas in Great Nicobar. The authorities should take the threat to life and property posed by these dangerous trees seriously and should act before any mishap happens.
The residents now hope that the authorities would wake from the deep slumber and take action to save their lives and property from the threat posed by the dangerous trees standing in vicinity of residential areas at Campbell Bay.