Dear Amlan,
Thanks a lot for your very interesting posting and indeed the details of all
the points that you have gone into regarding various aspects of the proposal
of twinning with Phuket. This is precisely the kind of exercise that the
administration should have itself taken on, publicised and discussed in
detail before going ahead with the twinning as they have just done.
I fully agree with you on most points - that engagement and dialouge are
indeed important and that the effort to be inclusive should certainly be
made. But this should also certainly apply to the administration.
What can one do except raise concerns when we get to know that the agreement
has been signed.
And by the way your point regarding the actual agreement is a very valid
one. I, for one have not seen the full agreement. what we have all seen are
some details that are available even now on the website of the
administration www.and.nic.in
and the press release and the newsreport that was carried in the Daily
Telegrams.
It might actually be a good idea to get a copy of the signed proposal. The
administration should not have a problem giving this out, i hope.
Also it would be nice to know some details regarding who was part of the
team that went for hte signing of the agreement, etc. etc.
pankaj

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...
----- Original Message -----
From: Amlan Dutta <amlan77@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 2:16 PM
Subject: [andamanicobar] My views on the Twinning issue


Dear All,
Much has been discussed on the twinning proposal / project. With
apprehensions addressed to the Congress fountainhead Sonia Gandhi. Is the
proposal draft available in any public domain? - I myself haven't been able
to access this proposal. Have any of the group members read this proposal?

I feel there are a couple of very clear issues, which needs to be
addressed at this stage. I have listed them to my understanding (correct me
if I have missed out anything)

1) Resource allocation issue - this would be including the fisheries
sector, water, food and other basic amenities -

2) Development issues - this would be including current
infrastructure - and plans for its development, trade issues & tourism
issues.

3) Cultural Influence & Implications - Adverse influences - sex
tourism etc.




Resource Allocation -

Resource Allocation is the major issue over here,

Q - Does ANI Admin currently have the resources to cater to the demands of
the Twinning proposal in its entirety?
Power & Water
All the basic resources are currently being generated or sourced by
subsidies. Power is generated in Port Blair primarily by the sole
power-house (in Phoenix Bay), by diesel procured from the mainland India by
ANI Admin, then there is Surya Chakra [ Bambooflat] (the electricity dept.
buys some Kilo Watts from here, to make up for its power deficit, the Port
Blair population gets a subsidized power supply). Water as a resource has no
management - there is no rainwater-harvesting to speak off, and bore wells
are understandably not condoned by the local Municipal Corp. The only source
of potable water is the Municipal Corp - pipelines. There are only two water
reservoirs (the Dhanikhari dam, Dilthaman tank) so even after receiving
3000 - 4000 mm/ yr of rainfall per year there is always a water shortage in
Port Blair.

How will the ANI Admin allocate resources, or will it be a free for all? We
should be having should have a proper paradigm for this two resources before
opening its doors, to tourism.
Food & Forest Products
Andaman population saw an increase after and during the 1962 resettlement
and colonization scheme during Nehru's tenure as PM. This was to ensure a
sizable presence in these far off islands in event of an invasion. And to
feed this populace, food rations, fuel, diary products, forest produce were
all subsidized or distributed for a token amount, ( Are we allowing any NTFP
extraction to the tourism (service ) industry ?), there is a 90% transport
subsidy to facilitate the local populace needs (including their jaunts to
mainland India) (Shekhar Singh commission report). Almost all vegetable
produce is procured from mainland India.

Hence how will the allocation take place - will the tourism industry be fed
from the subsidized resource scheme?

Fisheries

We have no fisheries policy - and everything is on an ad-hoc basis, there is
no management to speak off. No cut off harvest point - no carrying capacity
estimation. No inland fisheries - so to speak off, and hence sharing fishing
rights would be a disaster to the local fishermen, as currently it mainly
caters to the domestic fish consumption. (Have they been included in the
dialogue?) And Manish is right - the Thai fishermen / poachers we are
familiar with are actually quite unscrupulous in their fishing practices and
nothing is unethical for them, as they are poachers. If Thai fisheries
unions are brought in the picture the unscrupulous fishermen / smugglers
would automatically be pushed out. Moreover if there is a proper fisheries
policy formulated and pushed by the ANI Admin, with proper enforcement
deterrents for errant fishing practices - it should work out. But - all this
should be on a turn - key basis. We shouldn't open all doors at once - at
least not before a study or two
on the carrying capacity and regeneration periods of our fish stock in our
seas. ( Has Reef watch done any study on these subjects?)

Development Issues -

Infrastructure - (to discuss the implications good and bad in detail,
would be beyond the scope of this email, and hence I have kept myself brief)

Transport - I don't think we have proper inter island transport structure
(if we really let these tourists - go to Andaman group of islands), trunk
road is definitely not a good option. Will the Thai govt lend / lease a few
vessels to our DSS (Directorate of Shipping Services) for increased inter
island traffic. In this note what about vehicular pollution? - we surely
don't have that strict an anti - pollution regimen, currently - how will we
monitor the increased vehicular traffic for emission offences.

Trade - trade is always welcome by any trade center, however we surely will
have to have proper check points at the well designated entry and exit
points and intelligence network to monitor trade patterns and deter illegal
trade in contraband (arms, narcotics, human trafficking, & wildlife trade),
off course there will be un manned entry points - and to deter the effects
of those, we should have a good intelligence network, coordinating with the
local enforcement authorities.

Tourism & Cultural influences -

Sex Tourism a.k.a Phuket wont be possible from the word "go"- as some of
the group members have feared. We have strong legalization against human
trafficking & prostitution. Deterrents could be a well defined entry and
exit policy for our foreign visitors, deterring long stay-overs & surprise
checks on docking / docked vessels. As of now, one needs a inner line permit
(technically speaking) for foreign visitors, this can only be procured
through the immigration departments under the Home Ministry. All visitors
are monitored by The CID, we just have to make sure if the enforcement
authorities can cope with monitoring the increased tourism traffic.

Approach to Solutions -

Instead of damning the report at the very onset, we should appreciate the
spirit of the proposal. I am sure the locals appreciate the spirit of it. It
(the proposal) might be having serious deficiencies - as mentioned in the
letter to Sonia Gandhi - but does it have turn key approach to
implementation. If not it will surely be a disaster. Are we modeling
everything on Phuket? (it wont be possible to model P/b on Phuket in its
entirety - perhaps the ANI Govt. is planning a free port in the first year)
Are we going to have a free port at Port Blair? (As was proposed in a
previous proposal for Car Nicobar) Local people and Local Admin should be
involved in these dialogues - to get a holistic picture of the aspects of
the ongoing debate. Doom mongering - is not a good approach. dialogues
are -If the twinning project implementer - i.e. the chief secretary (ANI
Admin) is included in dialogues, issues would become much clearer in
definitions and when this (approach) fails we should have
approached the central govt. I am sure, the ANI Admin would have turned
antagonistic by now, to the local NGOs views regarding this twinning
proposal, especially in light of the recent letter to the Congress chief .

Well drafted policies in each of these above mentioned issues should be
able to clear up the controversies. And policy implementation should also be
well monitored & documented for shortcomings, and pit falls and to rectify
these policy issues.

We should have regulated entry into the twinning aspects, every single
aspect of the project should be on a turn key basis. So as to give the ANI
Admin, sufficient time periods to develop / acquire / procure the required
infrastructure for development and basic amenities. Transparency is to be
sought for proper implementation and governance (who did the EIA for the
twinning proposal??)

I am sure to get brick bats for this postings as I may be off key on many
of the issues, as I haven't read the proposal - where can one get a copy of
the proposal?.

Amlan Dutta

(a local guy)


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