I quite agree. I think guidelines are absolutely essential. It would be
great if we could develop such guidelines specifically for tourism in the
islands as a test case.

Seema
-----Original Message-----
From: samit sawhny <samitsawhny@...>
To: andamanicobar@... <andamanicobar@...>
Date: Monday, March 08, 2004 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] tourism


>Dear Madhushree,
>No worries about distance from the shore. Our projects are all setback more
than 200m, in keeping with CRZ regulations. Also no 'house reefs' anywhere
near the vicinity of our locations. have engaged environmental advisors. we
are quite big on 'community development' as part of tourism projects: in my
view, no matter how 'eco-friendly' a set up (which we will be), it isn't
'sustainable' if the locals don't benefit.
>Will be putting up a project report to this forum as soon as it is
finalised. interested in getting feedback.
>the 'enem' part was meant to be tongue in cheek. have come across too many
environmentalists who are flush with problems & low on solutions - the type
who propose blanket bans on all activity in the andamans, including tourism.
>to my mind, the need of the hour is clear guidelines (no matter how strict)
& sound regulation/policing.
>Samit
>
>
>
>On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 Madhusree Mukerjee wrote :
>>Dear Samit,
>>
>>Thanks for the nice words about my book, and good luck with both of yours!
>>
>>I imagine that if you are willing to think about environmental and other
issues, and are sincere in implementing sustainable solutions, you are not
the enemy.
>>
>>One major concern I have about construction on the Andamans is that the
upturned soil will run off and kill the corals. This has happened at the
Dolphin resort on Havelock, where the corals in front are smothered and
dead. It is bound to happen for any construction project near the beach. In
contrast, last time I looked, the beach at Radhanagar, also on Havelock, was
exquisite. Tourists stayed in tents, and were very happy to be able to stay
overnight in such a beautiful place. Most of them slept on the beach.
>>
>> All an ecotourist needs, in my view, is a sense of security: a sense
that they have pure water to drink and won't get sick, that they won't get
robbed. And, of course, a place worth visiting, which in my view the Dolphin
resort is not--any more. Amenities they can get at home.
>>
>>You must know that corals are dying all over the world because of global
warming. The only way some corals in the Andamans might survive is if they
are cared for, and not subject to additional stresses. Runoff of soil from
land has already destroyed all corals near settled areas of the Andamans.
Any new tourism development must guard against the danger of killing the
goose that lays the golden eggs: no corals means no tourists. I think that
in essence, it means that hotels will need to be very far from the corals
and beaches.
>>
>>Madhusree
>>
>>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>To visit your group on the web, go to:
>> http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/
>>
>>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>> andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
>>
>>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>> http://in.docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>>
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/andamanicobar/
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://in.docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>