Andamans Diary: From poacher on the run to New trade link

The Indian Coast Guard and Andaman and Nicobar Police have been combing forests and coastal areas of Little Andaman Island since July 11, 2018 for nearly 17 Myanmarese poachers who had attacked nearly
Andamans Diary: From poacher on the run to New trade link

Poachers on the run
The Indian Coast Guard and Andaman and Nicobar Police have been combing forests and coastal areas of Little Andaman Island since July 11, 2018 for nearly 17 Myanmarese poachers who had attacked nearly 13 fishermen of Little Andaman and injured five. After the attack, the poachers had escaped with an engined dinghy and 12 litres of diesel. The Myanmarese poachers had been desperately looking for an escape route for more than a month after the police captured their machine dinghies and arrested nearly eight of them recently from the jungles of Little Andaman Island during a combing operation.

Surge in POCSO cases
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are otherwise peaceful, are suddenly witnessing a surge of child abuses cases. Every month, several cases under the POCSO Act are being registered in different police stations of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, indicating a serious need for immediate steps from the local administration to spread awareness about child rights and child protection.

Tailwinds hit flights
For the last few days, a heavy tailwind near Port Blair International Airport area has been causing tremendous problems for airlines as several aircraft had to return to mainland India or cancel flights as the pilots were finding it difficult to land at Port Blair airport. The sudden cancellations are causing a bagful of trouble for passengers and tourists, and financial loss to the airlines.

New trade link
A 10-member delegation of the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently visited Sumatra to interact with the provincial government of Aceh and North Sumatra to discuss the potential for cooperation between Aceh and North Sumatra and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The delegation was on a visit to Indonesia from July 8 under the India-Indonesia Bilateral Project on Indo-Pacific Region. According to ACCI, during the recent visit of the Prime Minister of India to Jakarta, the leaders of both countries agreed to take the necessary steps to enhance connectivity between Andaman and Nicobar Islands and provinces on Sumatra Island to promote trade, tourism and people-to-people contacts, and facilitate business-to- business linkages between the Chamber of Commerce and Indonesian companies.

Road turns death trap, gives commuters nightmares
The Andaman Trunk Road, which connects Andaman’s capital Port Blair with the North Andaman region, is in terrible shape, giving daily nightmares to thousands of commuters. The responsibility of making the ATR double laned, and repairing the same has been given to National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited by the Central government, but due to lack of professional care, several stretches of the ATR have turned into death traps, making it difficult even for four-wheel drive vehicles to use the ATR. Anger is brewing among residents of remote Islands wherever the ATR is in a bad shape.

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