Residents of Campbell Bay Advocate Against Immediate Scheduling of Passenger Vessel

Tarun Karthick

Campbell Bay, 17 June 2021

The recent detection of a large number of COVID-19 cases in Little Andaman is very concerning for the residents living in the remote Islands of Southern Group. Nicobar District has been completely COVID-19 free in the second wave of the pandemic. The residents of Campbell Bay who were requesting ships for the stranded passengers of the Island until yesterday, are now advocating against scheduling of any ship for Great Nicobar.

Nicobar Times spoke to a large number of residents of Campbell Bay and barring a small fraction of those whose immediate relatives are stranded in South Andaman, all others are of the view that no ship should be scheduled for Campbell Bay anytime soon.

Many of the residents are of the view that Andaman and Nicobar Administration should help the stranded Islanders of the remote islands by providing them with food and accommodation in hostels and other public facilities at South Andaman.

Nicobar Times also spoke to various political leaders of different political parties active in Great Nicobar and all of them were of the view that ships should not be scheduled for Campbell Bay at this time, when a large number of positive cases have been detected in Little Andaman. Some of the political leaders also told Nicobar Times that they will call up the Deputy Commissioner of Nicobar District and inform him about the views of the general public of Campbell Bay.

Very basic healthcare facilities are available in the remote Islands of Nicobar District and a large scale outbreak of COVID-19 will be very difficult to manage. Serious patients will have to be airlifted to Port Blair and during monsoon often helicopters are not able to reach the Island due to inclement weather.

Many of the residents are also concerned about their livelihood. Nicobar District is under restrictions since a long period of time and because of which a majority of the residents are not able to earn. The residents were hoping for considerable relaxation in the coming days since the whole district has remained COVID-19 free in the second wave of the pandemic. Residents fear that if the stranded passengers are transported to Campbell Bay and if COVID-19 cases are detected in the Island, they will not be able to earn for a long period of time because containment measures will be taken and more restrictions will be enforced.

One businessman on condition of anonymity, told Nicobar Times that because of a few hundred stranded residents, thousand of other residents will have to face restrictions and will lose their livelihoods. He added that the Administration should think of providing them some relief and they should be transported back only when the situation completely normalises.

Another resident told Nicobar Times that a list of stranded passengers should be prepared and they should be institutionally quarantined for a considerable period of time before being allowed to travel to Campbell Bay. He further added that after reaching Campbell Bay these passengers should again be institutionally quarantined and tests should be conducted on each one of them before being de-quarantined.

Only some residents whose relatives are stranded in Port Blair advocated for immediate sailing of the ship. 

Residents of Campbell Bay are very concerned about the COVID-19 situation prevailing in South Andaman District and the recent detection of a large number of COVID-19 cases from Little Andaman has forced them to introspect their stand on transportation of stranded Islanders back to Campbell Bay.

Local political leaders of Campbell Bay have also changed their views on transportation of the stranded Islanders after a large number of COVID-19 cases were detected in Little Andaman.