Add this and you have a new example of a  thing called man-made natural
disasters:
http://predictingquakes.rediffblogs.com/
R. Ashok Kumar,Author, Negentropist, Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal, 299, Tardeo Road,
Nana Chowk, Mumbai-400007


pulak barua <mr_pulak@...> wrote:

Hi





Coming 12th October, 2005 is commemorated as the International Day for Natural
Disaster Reduction. In the recent times, there have been a number of disasters
round the world- Tsunami in late December, 2004, Katrina and Rita in September,
2005 and now Earth Quake in regions of South-west Asia (Pakistan; Northern parts
of India, borders of Afghanistan). No government or organization was prepared
for any of these natural disasters.



In a span of ten months, the world has seen terrible and havoc-filled times.
Countries have supported each other in these critical times. The over-whelming
support and rush for help towards the affected areas says so much about the
spirit of humanity in all despite the persisting differences of opinions on
varied issues.



At this juncture the need for a special task force specifically for Disaster
Management efforts has been established. We need to be prepared to handle the
situation and crisis that a sudden change in the nature’s course can bring.



Support for a disaster-ridden state/ country, does not end with the financial
and other forms of essential necessities support. A lot of mental –
psychological support is required to get back to live and overcome the losses to
the disaster. October 10th 2005 is celebrated as the World Mental Health Day,
which stresses the importance of mental health and associated health problems.



Let’s hope to find ways and means to cure as well as prevent in future the
maladies of humans as well as nature.





Do consider sharing your thoughts and viewpoints on this issue of concern by
posting a Petition or a Blog on www.JantaRaj.com



You can check out for some of the popular petition posted on www.JantaRaj.com .



How Long the Women Reservation Bill will Wait for Execution?

http://www.jantaraj.com/vanijayaram/defaultpet.asp?pid=495



Misuse of Dowry Acts and Blackmail of Police influence

http://www.jantaraj.com/Sivakumar%20J/defaultpet.asp?pid=485



Air & Water pollution

http://www.jantaraj.com/mailardevpally/defaultpet.asp?pid=488



Stop the Road to Destruction of the Jarawa Tribe

http://www.jantaraj.com/petitions/default.asp?pid=18

Stop Japan! Stop Commercial Whaling!

http://www.jantaraj.com/KimChin/defaultpet.asp?pid=398

Dress Code is a must for Universities

http://www.jantaraj.com/abbaskhan/defaultpet.asp?pid=401



You can also check out some of recent blogs posted at www.JantaRaj.com:



'We care for you" cards for tobacco users

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=117

India lost Iran’s Faith by Voting for IAEA Resolution

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=118

Facing the Facts: If We Think We Can Stave Off Climate Catastrophe Simply By
Raising Public Awareness, We Are Deceiving Ourselves

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=119

Sonia and Noble Peace Prize

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=120

How Long the Nation will Face LPG Scarcity?

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=123





Our Research and Development team is constantly on the task of enhancing
www.JantaRaj.com by easing User-Interface, and gifting you greater value
proposition.



We thank you for your support and active participation. The JantaRaj team keenly
looks forward to your valuable feedback to help us serve you better.



For further information/ clarifications, please feel free to contact me.



Yours sincerely



Richa Sharma

Editor,

www.JantaRaj.com




---------------------------------
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---------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

    To visit your group on the web, go to:
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Vardhan,

Pankaj is right, its still very much found in the south sentinel and is an
endemic species of the Island group. Check out with the Gwalior University (I
don't keep track of current research in the islands these days - but they have
worked on the invertebrates (including crabs) of the Nicobar group of islands) .
They have presented their work in certain national seminars. you can get a copy
of the proceedings by doing some lit. surveys (SACON [ which has a presence in
the islands, [BNHS] [JNU, which worked in the Nicobar group] and also IIRS
(Dehradun), and off course Madras Croc Bank - ANET (Harry Andrews & Manish
Chandi (who do active work in the Nicobar group). I am pretty sure someone has
worked on the Robber Crabs. Best way to find out is by writing to the CWLW
(Chief Wildlife Warden) of Port Blair, and asking if they have given permission
to anyone in the recent past to work on the robber crabs, (this is a problem
about research work done in the islands, there is no centralised
  tracking system of what work has been done where in the islands, and
researchers / research groups seldom submit a copy of their final report to the
Forest Department - I was told by the Forest Department some time ago. )

Regards,

Amlan Dutta




---------------------------------
  Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Madhushree,
this is one more reason to end the twinning with Phuket. It could be the peg
to do so. Secondly, its the manner in which poultry is being raised that is
leading to the flu, and the fact that the broilers are hormone fed rather
than the natural rearing of chicks that foragwe for their own feed, rather
than dependent on chicken feed. Is there large scale poultry farming in the
A&N?
Nina Rao

  On 10/10/05, Madhusree Mukerjee <lopchu@...> wrote:
>
> I would like to start a discussion about what could be the next disaster
> awaiting the islands and other parts of eastern India--a bird flu epidemic.
> I'm not a medical person, but I'm summarizing here what I read, and there is
> more information at the site below. I hope someone in this group with
> expertise can advise us on the extent of the threat the A&N islands face,
> and what can be done to prepare for it. Is anything being done now?
>
> http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/asia.htm
>
> The bird flu virus is now transmitted from birds to humans. There have
> been many cases in Thailand of human deaths from such infection. The virus
> is present in Indonesia, Cambodia and other SEAsian countries as well, which
> is why I think the Andamans and Nicobars might be next. It is only a matter
> of time till the virus figures out how to jump directly between humans.
> Since this is a new virus and no one has immunity, it is expected to cause
> tens of millions of deaths worldwide. Apparently there is some medicine for
> it, but I have no idea if it exists in India--certainly not in required
> amounts. No vaccine exists yet.
>
> In addition to birds, the virus also affects pigs, where it "learns" to
> deal with mammals. I assume there are no poultry and pigs entering the A&N
> islands from SE Asian neighbors? If not, the virus can come through the
> droppings of migratory birds affecting local poultry, or, when it learns to
> jump from human to human and really takes off, through the ports and airport
> and other human contact points.
>
> Madhusree
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In Response to Madhusree's Posting, I am sending the  Position Statement  of
Wetlands International on the AVian Influenza.
For more details etc. please contact

Contact: Dr. Taej Mundkur Wetlands International - South Asia A-25, 2nd
Floor, Defence Colony, New Delhi - 110 024, India Tel/Fax: +91 20 25283372 /
9850584334.  Email: taejmundkur.wi@...


Wetlands International
POSITION STATEMENT ON AVIAN INFLUENZA


Since 1997, the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) of the H5N1 strain
in east, southeast and central Asia has been increasingly recorded through
recurrent outbreaks in poultry and through infections in people. This has
resulted in the deaths over 60 people and culling of several hundred million
domestic poultry and ducks. HPAI can be spread through movement of poultry,
eggs, meat and bird products, poultry and live bird markets, illegal trade
of wild birds, movement of humans and machinery between poultry farms, the
religious practice of "merit release" of wild or pet birds and substandard
poultry vaccines.
In 2005, a few species of migratory waterbirds were affected by the virus
with mass die offs observed in two locations in China and Mongolia. Due to
their migratory nature, wild birds are perceived by some groups as a
potential threat in spreading the disease along their migratory routes that
cross national boundaries across Asia, Australasia, Europe, Africa and the
Americas. At the same time wild birds are victims of this disease and thus
under threat. As the role that wild birds could play in spreading HPAI is
far from clear, Wetlands International urges that more research is urgently
done and a world wide system for monitoring HPAI in wild birds be put in
place. Practical measures to be taken to limit the risk of spreading the
virus should focus on the control of movements of domestic poultry and on
improved bio-security practices in poultry production enterprises.
Considering our present knowledge about Avian Influenza H5N1 and the
potential role of wild birds in spreading the disease, Wetlands
international asks special attention for the following:
1. Avian Flu is a serious disease which is fatal for humans, domestic
poultry (including chickens, ducks and geese) and wild birds. This means
that human health, economic interests and nature conservation are at stake.
2. The conditions under which low pathogenic strains (LPAI) viruses mutate
into HPAI viruses are poorly understood. However, it is likely that
mutations to HPAI are especially facilitated by situations in which domestic
poultry is kept, i.e. in large numbers, at high densities and in unhygienic
situations.
3. At present there are no instances documented of HPAI being transmitted to
humans by wild birds. Instead, all human cases have been associated with
close contact with infected poultry.
4. The role of wild birds in the spread of HPAI-H5N1 over large parts of the
Asian continent is unclear and unproven. However, the role of wild birds in
outbreaks in Russia is speculative.
5. Several measures can be taken in order to control HPAI as is suggested
e.g. by the Food and Agricultural Organization, the World Health
Organization and many others. Such measures should focus on strengthening
surveillance for the disease especially in risk countries, better control on
wild bird markets and movements of domestic poultry and a reduction of close
contacts between humans, domestic poultry and wild birds through better
management and improved bio-security practices in production enterprises.
6. For several reasons culling of waterbirds, or destroying their habitats,
is not an option in controlling HPAI. Such actions are immoral and in many
cases illegal. Moreover, they should be regarded counterproductive as they
would interfere with the normal movements of migratory birds and can lead to
unpredictable dispersion of individuals.
7. There is little known about the potential risks of migratory waterbirds
in spreading HPAI. This refers to the behaviour of the virus in wild birds
and in the aquatic habitat, the chance of infected birds covering large
distances, the timing of migration and the migratory routes of risk species
and the chances of transmission at places where waterbirds concentrate
during moulting, staging or during the non-breeding period (northern winter
season). It is urged that these subjects are studied in detail and at the
earliest.
8. The various programmes for monitoring, sampling and analysis of the viral
subtypes of avian influenza found in wild birds should be intensified and
included in a well co-ordinated monitoring network. Data should be centrally
managed and made widely available.
9. The assessment of the risks involved in a world wide spread of HPAI
should be carried out by a multidisciplinary team of research workers
including virologists, biologists, veterinarians, molecular biologists,
epidemiologists, public health officials and other relevant disciplines.

Wetlands International has taken the initiative to bring virologists,
ornithologists and modellers together, in order to develop a world wide
system for monitoring Avian Influenza in wild birds and to unravel possible
mechanisms of disease transmission. This initiative is developed in close
contact with the European Union (EU), World Health Organization (WHO) and
the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) as well as with international
nature conservation bodies such as the Ramsar Convention, the Convention on
Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA),
BirdLife International and International Council for Game & Wildlife
Conservation (CIC). We seek cooperation with like minded bodies to enhance
this important work.
Wetlands International has established a website devoted to providing
information on AI and wild birds: http://www.wetlands.org/iwc/avianflu

Contact: Dr. Taej Mundkur Wetlands International - South Asia A-25, 2nd
Floor, Defence Colony, New Delhi - 110 024, India Tel/Fax: +91 20 25283372 /
9850584334.  Email: taejmundkur.wi@...



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: Madhusree Mukerjee <lopchu@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 1:25 PM
Subject: [andamanicobar] bird flu


> I would like to start a discussion about what could be the next disaster
awaiting the islands and other parts of eastern India--a bird flu epidemic.
I'm not a medical person, but I'm summarizing here what I read, and there is
more information at the site below. I hope someone in this group with
expertise can advise us on the extent of the threat the A&N islands face,
and what can be done to prepare for it. Is anything being done now?
>
> http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/asia.htm
>
> The bird flu virus is now transmitted from birds to humans. There have
been many cases in Thailand of human deaths from such infection. The virus
is present in Indonesia, Cambodia and other SEAsian countries as well, which
is why I think the Andamans and Nicobars might be next. It is only a matter
of time till the virus figures out how to jump directly between humans.
Since this is a new virus and no one has immunity, it is expected to cause
tens of millions of deaths worldwide. Apparently there is some medicine for
it, but I have no idea if it exists in India--certainly not in required
amounts. No vaccine exists yet.
>
> In addition to birds, the virus also affects pigs, where it "learns" to
deal with mammals. I assume there are no poultry and pigs entering the A&N
islands from SE Asian neighbors? If not, the virus can come through the
droppings of migratory birds affecting local poultry, or, when it learns to
jump from human to human and really takes off, through the ports and airport
and other human contact points.
>
> Madhusree
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Hi





Coming 12th October, 2005 is commemorated as the International Day for Natural
Disaster Reduction. In the recent times, there have been a number of disasters
round the world- Tsunami in late December, 2004, Katrina and Rita in September,
2005 and now Earth Quake in regions of South-west Asia (Pakistan; Northern parts
of India, borders of Afghanistan). No government or organization was prepared
for any of these natural disasters.



In a span of ten months, the world has seen terrible and havoc-filled times.
Countries have supported each other in these critical times. The over-whelming
support and rush for help towards the affected areas says so much about the
spirit of humanity in all despite the persisting differences of opinions on
varied issues.



At this juncture the need for a special task force specifically for Disaster
Management efforts has been established. We need to be prepared to handle the
situation and crisis that a sudden change in the nature’s course can bring.



Support for a disaster-ridden state/ country, does not end with the financial
and other forms of essential necessities support. A lot of mental –
psychological support is required to get back to live and overcome the losses to
the disaster. October 10th 2005 is celebrated as the World Mental Health Day,
which stresses the importance of mental health and associated health problems.



Let’s hope to find ways and means to cure as well as prevent in future the
maladies of humans as well as nature.





Do consider sharing your thoughts and viewpoints on this issue of concern by
posting a Petition or a Blog on www.JantaRaj.com



You can check out for some of the popular petition posted on www.JantaRaj.com .



How Long the Women Reservation Bill will Wait for Execution?

http://www.jantaraj.com/vanijayaram/defaultpet.asp?pid=495



Misuse of Dowry Acts and Blackmail of Police influence

http://www.jantaraj.com/Sivakumar%20J/defaultpet.asp?pid=485



Air & Water pollution

http://www.jantaraj.com/mailardevpally/defaultpet.asp?pid=488



Stop the Road to Destruction of the Jarawa Tribe

http://www.jantaraj.com/petitions/default.asp?pid=18

Stop Japan! Stop Commercial Whaling!

http://www.jantaraj.com/KimChin/defaultpet.asp?pid=398

Dress Code is a must for Universities

http://www.jantaraj.com/abbaskhan/defaultpet.asp?pid=401



You can also check out some of recent blogs posted at www.JantaRaj.com:



'We care for you" cards for tobacco users

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=117

India lost Iran’s Faith by Voting for IAEA Resolution

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=118

Facing the Facts: If We Think We Can Stave Off Climate Catastrophe Simply By
Raising Public Awareness, We Are Deceiving Ourselves

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=119

Sonia and Noble Peace Prize

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=120

How Long the Nation will Face LPG Scarcity?

http://www.jantaraj.com/blog/bcdetails.asp?bid=123





Our Research and Development team is constantly on the task of enhancing
www.JantaRaj.com by easing User-Interface, and gifting you greater value
proposition.



We thank you for your support and active participation. The JantaRaj team keenly
looks forward to your valuable feedback to help us serve you better.



For further information/ clarifications, please feel free to contact me.



Yours sincerely



Richa Sharma

Editor,

www.JantaRaj.com




---------------------------------
  Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The Robber Crab is found in some of the islands in the Nicobar Group and in
South Sentinel in the Andaman group.
From what little is known the robber crab population has been badly affected
after the tsunami particularly because the low lying coastal forests which
are its main habitat have been badly hit.
I am not aware of anybody who is researching the robber crab in the islands.
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: vadhan patankar <vardhan_patankar@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Cc: <kvenvironment@yahoogroups.com>; <all@...>
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2005 2:46 PM
Subject: [andamanicobar] want information on coconut crab or robber crab


> hello friends,
>
> I would like to know is robber crab is still found on A & N islands and if
yes, where  exactly would i present them ( in which part of the Islands)
> I would also like to know if anybody is doing research on them.
>
> Thank you
>
> Vardhan
>
>
> ---------------------------------
>  Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

I would like to start a discussion about what could be the next disaster
awaiting the islands and other parts of eastern India--a bird flu epidemic. I'm
not a medical person, but I'm summarizing here what I read, and there is more
information at the site below. I hope someone in this group with expertise can
advise us on the extent of the threat the A&N islands face, and what can be done
to prepare for it. Is anything being done now?

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/asia.htm

The bird flu virus is now transmitted from birds to humans. There have been many
cases in Thailand of human deaths from such infection. The virus is present in
Indonesia, Cambodia and other SEAsian countries as well, which is why I think
the Andamans and Nicobars might be next. It is only a matter of time till the
virus figures out how to jump directly between humans. Since this is a new virus
and no one has immunity, it is expected to cause tens of millions of deaths
worldwide. Apparently there is some medicine for it, but I have no idea if it
exists in India--certainly not in required amounts. No vaccine exists yet.

In addition to birds, the virus also affects pigs, where it "learns" to deal
with mammals. I assume there are no poultry and pigs entering the A&N islands
from SE Asian neighbors? If not, the virus can come through the droppings of
migratory birds affecting local poultry, or, when it learns to jump from human
to human and really takes off, through the ports and airport and other human
contact points.

Madhusree

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

hello friends,

I would like to know is robber crab is still found on A & N islands and if yes,
where  exactly would i present them ( in which part of the Islands)
I would also like to know if anybody is doing research on them.

Thank you

Vardhan


---------------------------------
  Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Does this have any implications vis a vis forest submergence or fragmentation?

Rauf

Pankaj <pankaj@...> wrote:
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
Oct. 6, 2005
Construction of 500 more check dams on card in the isles
Port Blair, Oct 05
    Under the Rajiv Gandhi Relief Package of Agriculture it is proposed to
construct 500 Check dams in this island territory involving financial target
of Rs. 20 crores during the current financial year.
    In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, crops are grown under rainfed conditions.
Though this archipelago receives above 3000 mm of annual rainfall both from
northeast and southwest monsoons but due to the erratic nature of rainfall,
there is a scarcity of water during the period from December to May and in
the intermittent dry spells during the monsoons. This results in severe
moisture stress and ultimately results in the crops failure and poor
harvest.
   Undulating topography, impervious clayey, porous, sandy nature of soil and
varied rock formations and slope ranging from 2% to 4% facilitates meagre
infiltration. Thus a lion share of the rainfall goes into sea as run off.
   To implement the project, series of check dams were constructed in some of
the available streams in the Islands where water has been made available
even in the dry spell (i.e from January to May). Earlier, the water used to
flow directly into sea without any obstruction. These obstacles in the shape
of check dams created in the streams will automatically prevent the runoff
of rain water into the sea because velocity of the water will be reduced due
to the series of check dams created in the streams. This mechanism will
ultimately recharge the adjoining areas and increase the moisture content of
the soil, simultaneously this will stop severe soil and stream bank erosion.
Therefore, to make the islands sustainable in agriculture various types of
Minor Irrigation schemes are the only solution.
   Under the Minor Irrigation schemes, 101 check dams have been constructed
so far till March' 2005. Thus, an irrigation potential of 724.50 hectare
have been created by the 101 Nos. check dams. All the check dams are
constructed as per the technical guidelines given by Shri. A. Kar, Scientist
'D' (Geo-hydrologist) of Central Ground Water Board, Eastern Region,
Kolkata. The check dams are designed by Shri. Sarbjit Singh, Assistant
Engineer (MI) of the Department of Agriculture.
   Under the minor irrigation schemes check dams are constructed in the
streams flowing in between the arable field of the farmers. Check dams have
the various advantages for the farming community of A&N Islands. These are:
(i) Help in rainwater harvesting; (ii) Recharging ground water; (iii)
Providing drinking water for human aw well as consumption for cattle; (iv)
Irrigation of crops; (v) Prevent erosion of valuable soils and streams bank
protection and (vi) Reduce silt in the coral reefs areas thereby enhancing
fisheries resources.
   This will help to make the drainage system perennial through lot of water
conservation and recharge along its course. While typical terrain condition
and energy and geology, restricted creation of potential ground water
reservoir, simultaneously favourable catchments, channel width perenniality,
occurrence of frequent deep and shallow focus earthquake and above all, the
environmental regulation are the constraints for formation of medium dam
projects in these islands. However, the recent research and development
studies on artificial recharge and conservation studies by the Central
Ground Water Board has revealed the necessity for construction of small
check dams and subsurface dam with intake wells for water shed development
and rainwater harvesting in the islands. Prompted with the success of these
studies the Agriculture Development had taken imitative to conserve
rainwater and ground water in the stream valleys. Hence at the first stage
construction of check dams in the streams and nallahs of A&N has been
adopted.
    The zone wise position of check dams constructed vis-à-vis irrigation
potential created is as follows:-
Sl.
No. Zone Numbers Irrigation potential created (in ha.)
1. South Andaman 69 485.00
2. Middle Andaman 17 107.50
3. Mayabunder 06 048.00
4. Diglipur 09 084.00
Total 101 724.50



C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...




---------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

    To visit your group on the web, go to:
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    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
andamanicobar-unsubscribe@...

    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



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*PRESS RELEASE*

  The Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology (SANE) has taken a new initiative
towards resolving the question of future stability of shore-line ecological
systems in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands using high precision ground
deformation measuring instruments as well as the hydrodynamics of water
channels bordering the shores. Specifically, Tilt Meter and Pressure Gauges
will be installed at appropriate sites in the islands for measuring the
ongoing tilt of the island as post-tsunami relaxation. This work would be
accomplished in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics,
Bangalore under a Memorandum of Understanding jointly agreed upon between
Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology and Prof. Vinod K. Gaur, Distinguished
Professor, Indian Institute of Astrophysics. In the first phase of
implementation a 300 meter long tilt meter will be installed along an
East-West direction beneath the almost flat ground of Rangachang. It is also
proposed to install pressure gauges at appropriate locations along the inlet
and outlet to develop an understanding of the hydrodynamics of water
channels which is essential for a meaningful interpretation of tide gauge
data caused by unusual ground deformation events.

  It is envisaged that such measuring systems would be installed at several
additional sites in the near future to develop a closer understanding of the
behaviour of the island forms to the continued tectonic activities in the
region.

  In this endeavor SANE has the good fortune of associating with the world
renowned seismologist Prof. Roger Bilham of Colorado University, who already
collaborates with Prof. Gaur in Earthquake Research.

  The project has been welcomed by Mr. D.S Negi, Chief Secretary, A & N
Administration who has promised support of the Administration in this
venture. Thanks to his intervention the work of installing the first Tilt
Meter has already started under the supervision of Prof. Gaur today. It is
expected that the local personnel of SANE will learn the process and will be
able to take care of the subsequent installations. A few pressure gauges
have also been placed at selected locations.

  The sophisticated equipments like sensors, pressure gauges and computers
have been provided to SANE by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics on
permanent loan.

  Prof. Gaur's association with Andaman goes back to a long time. He was the
Secretary Department of Ocean Development and IDA standing Committee Member
during the Prime Ministership of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. Among his many
publications, there are two books Nuclear Energy and Public Safety and
Earthquake
Hazard & Large Dams in the Himalayas both of which were published by INTACH.

  For more information Contact: Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology, Post
Box No. 63, Middle Point, Port Blair-744101, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Ph: 91-3192-23 2929, 234624
Fax: 91-3192-23 6014, E-mail: sane@...

--
Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology
P.B.No <http://P.B.No>. 63
Middle Point
Port Blair-744101
A & N Islands

Ph: (03192) 232929, 234624
Fax:(03192) 236014


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The Nicobars Revisited- Wildlife Survival Post-tsunami
By Manish Chandi

From the latest issue of SANCTUARY ASIA, Vol. XXV, No. 5, October 2005
www.sanctuaryasia.com

It was with a sense of déjà vu that we boarded the MV Sentinel, bound for
Campbell Bay on Great Nicobar Island. Ravi and I, like many others, had
often travelled on that rusty ship on our trips south of the Andamans. Dr.
Ravi Sankaran of Sàlim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History
(SACON) has conducted studies on the Nicobar Megapode for several years
beginning from 1992, and has periodically visited the Nicobar Islands to
study the avifauna since. My first visit was in 1996 and I too had returned
often to study natural resource use by the Nicobarese of Little Nicobar
Island.
But as the ship set out from Port Blair on
January 28, 2005 there was also a sense of venturing into the unknown. The
tsunami of December 26 had, we knew, changed most things, and we had no idea
of what was waiting for us. The Nicobars were full of friends we had
developed over the years, places that we talked of as the best beaches or
forest patches we had ever seen, amazing creatures we had observed at
different points of time. What had become of these people and places?
The fragments of news we had heard were not very easy to digest and we could
not rest easy until we saw the place for ourselves. I was happy to be
travelling with an older hand; we could complement each other's work.
After a 40-hour journey, at dawn, the ship lifted anchor to sail into
Campbell Bay. Nothing had prepared us for what we saw - a brown coastline of
dead trees and patchy, thin beaches near the jetty. But there would be much
more to see before we could even begin to grasp the enormity of the change
the tsunami had wrought on the Nicobars.
The southern Nicobars consist of 11 islands of which four are inhabited and
the others visited to harvest coconut plantations. Little and Great Nicobar
Islands are the larger ones in the Nicobar archipelago, situated at the tail
end of the chain, close to Sumatra and the Malacca straits. Clothed by dense
tropical forests along the coast, hillocks, valleys and creeks that indent
the coastline and creep deep into the forest, the islands are colonised by
rich and varied plants and animals. The largest animals found are saltwater
crocodiles, reticulated pythons and wild boars.
Birds and insects abound in the pristine wet forests, making the terrestrial
habitat a treasure trove of biodiversity. Unique and strange-looking
reptiles, from skinks, snakes, lizards, a species of freshwater turtle to
frogs large and small, kindle one's curiosity. How did they ever get here
and how do they survive on such isolated islands?
Some of these plants and animals are endemic to the Nicobar islands, which
is to say they are found nowhere else on the planet. Of these, many can only
be found on the southern group of islands. Fringing the coast are coral
reefs and shoals that teem with life, from dugongs that browse the sea
grasses, to reef fish, crustaceans, molluscs, holothuria, rays, large
schools of fish and even dolphins, along with a myriad other species that
challenge our comprehension and imagination.
Near shore habitats include swamps, lowland
beach forests and snaky creeks leading to exquisite
fresh water ecosystems, sea turtle nesting beaches and awe-inspiring rock
formations. The coastal strip is
dotted with hamlets and plantation sites, because of the easy sea access.
Only the Shompen of Great Nicobar Island have chosen to live, in small
clans, across the island's interior.
All the islands are categorised as tribal areas with restricted entry,
except for the settled and administrative areas on Great Nicobar. With its
large size and biological and human diversity, Great Nicobar was declared a
Biosphere Reserve in 1989, and includes the Campbell Bay and Galathea
National Parks, a total area of 885 sq. km.
After the wave
The tsunami that hit the region came as a huge wall of water, over 10 m.
high in some places, and washed, gouged and uprooted most life forms and
landscapes in its path. Being close to the epicentre of the initial
earthquake that generated the tsunami, the southern Nicobars and other
islands in the district bore the brunt of nature's force. Small islands were
partially or completely submerged and split into different parts, changing
their geographical profile. Beaches were submerged along with parts of the
coastal forest and coconut plantations of the resident Nicobarese. With many
aftershocks hitting the region, gradual subsidence occurred reducing the
shoreline to stumps of dead trees and coralline rubble.
The wall of water washed away vegetation from estuarine creeks and cut the
banks, broadening and deepening the mouths of creeks, creating new channels
for the ingress and egress of water. Small hillocks and cliff faces were
also cut by the strong waves that lashed the coast even after the tsunami.
All vegetation along the coast has been affected. Many trees that were not
uprooted are now dying from elevated salinity around their root systems. The
green face of the coast has been transmogrified into one of dead and broken
trees and virtually non-existent beaches. All in a flash! The reef flats in
most places are also damaged, with shells,
fish, clams and sea cucumbers being thrown
onto the coast, leaving a poorer and deeper reef in
many places.
Sea turtles, the Nicobar Megapode, giant robber crabs, floral communities in
estuarine areas and coastal old growth forests, beaches and coral reef flats
have all been affected, but have survived, albeit with changed ecological
circumstances. Only sustained monitoring over the coming years can show us
how the regeneration of habitats will progress.
Many other species have their own survival stories that will lend a new
dimension to the ecology of the coast. All affected species will in time
have to carve out niches in their new world. As always, only the strongest,
fittest and most adaptable will survive. In many locations, habitats are yet
in a state of flux and their formation will depend on natural regeneration
through the deposition of seeds by wind and birds, a process perfected by
nature over millennia.
Important marine turtle nesting beaches along the mouths of the Galathea,
Dagmar and Alexandra creeks are yet to re-form; sand deposition will depend
on currents and tidal patterns over time. Mangrove creeks that were abundant
with the Nypa palm Nypa fruiticans, among other mangrove species, have been
denuded and will only stabilise with oceanic drift bringing in new seeds
along with other flotsam on the currents. Grass and weeds along with a few
pioneer species have already shot out of the soil with the moisture of the
summer rains aiding their growth. Saplings sighted near the Galathea in
early May this year were of Barringtonia, Terminalia, Macaranga and a few
Pongamia apart from weeds such as Eupatorium and many creepers. Fallen tree
trunks dot the shoreline and a broken road now close to the shore is being
filled up by sand at new locations.
The species that has been affected the most is the Nicobar Megapode. This is
a ground nesting bird that prefers the coast, though some individuals are
also found in nearby forests. When we visited different sections of the
coast not one of the characteristic Megapode nesting mounds, nor the bird
itself was seen - until, finally, a pair was spotted near Kopenheat on the
west coast of Great Nicobar. The genesis of a new nest was also reported at
Pulo Ulon on Little Nicobar Island. Even though these were just two reports,
it was some relief to know that some individuals had survived and the
species was trying to make a comeback.
The Nicobar Megapode uses leaf litter and the sand of the coastal forest to
construct a mound in which it lays its eggs. All former localities where
these nests were found have drastically changed with the tsunami leaving
behind a decrepit coastal forest devoid of a canopy.
Another species found in a similar habitat is the coconut-eating giant
robber crab. It burrows behind decomposing logs and miniature grottoes
between tree roots, in the safety of the shaded coastal forest. The only
evidence of a live specimen was seen on Menchal Island in a coconut
plantation in the form of a freshly de-husked and cracked coconut. The small
Megapode Island, along the west coast of Great Nicobar, can now only be
identified by the bay it was located in; in March only two trees were seen
sticking above the water that now covers the entire island! What was once
Megapode Island is now a footnote in the pages of history, becoming instead
a dangerous shoal in Nanjappa Bay.
With the destruction of most coastal plantations, the Nicobarese are at a
nadir of sorts, given that their horticulture-based economy has come to a
virtual standstill. They have planned to re-inhabit their hamlets and
recreate plantations to revive their economy; but this is a time-consuming
process and the next few years are going to be a period of transition for
these people, who have become economic refugees in their own land.
The wildlife of the coastal region has similarly been badly affected. Most
species have levels of resilience that see them through extreme conditions
where the ability to adapt and struggle against the odds determine the
survival of the fittest. But resilient as they are, there are many other
factors at play that could determine which species survive and to what
extent. In any event, the tsunami of December 26, 2004 has left in its wake
a new world in these tiny islands cradled by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of
Bengal.

MANISH CHANDI has been a research associate with the Andaman & Nicobar
Islands Environmental Team for many years. He was recently in the Nicobars
on an assignment with Reefwatch Marine Conservation.


RELIEF WORK
In the initial weeks after the disaster there was a tremendous need for help
and an outpouring of assistance from the Indian mainland, the defence
forces, governmental institutions and NGOs was seen. But after the initial
burst, the return to normalcy has been sluggish. And the definition of
normalcy in the case of the islands is itself relevant. The beneficiaries of
the aid are a people not understood by the dole merchants, though the former
have made themselves quite familiar with the latter in a short time and know
that, for the foreseeable future, dole will continue to be available for the
collection. The most visible effect of this is the difference between
beneficiary and dole merchants in their approach to a natural disaster.
Material goods such as houses and all that they contained have been washed
away. Important cultural artefacts such as totems called Kareyou or Kareva
that were used for ancestor worship, healing and ritual were the only
remnants of an era on the threshold of change. Artefacts, some over a
hundred years old have been washed away along with articles bartered with
old sailing ships - these included silver and chinaware given or bartered
with skippers of trading ships, pirates or extracted from marooned vessels.
This trading culture has governed the relations that Nicobaris have had with
the outside world from time immemorial. Today, a whole slew of NGOs along
with government departments, each with their own priorities and programmes
dole out welfare that is most easily conceivable to them; being bereft of
articles to exchange, this process is being directed by the outside world
and not by the islanders themselves. The Nicobaris are yet to be seen as a
resilient people by the outside world, who if given the material and
infrastructural resources can rehabilitate themselves in their own way.
Being classified as a 'tribal' has many connotations such as an eponymous
epitome of being someone in need of welfare. Developmental plans to recreate
horticulture plantations, animal husbandry, and recreating infrastructure
have brought with it hungry contractors and government suppliers. The
islands will soon become a dumping ground for a variety of goods from the
ubiquitous mineral water bottles to a host of other articles, each with
their own environmental and social effects. One of the most hazardous
exercises being mooted is the attempt to create barriers along the coastline
as 'protection' from future giant waves; this could have devastating effects
on nearby coral reefs and mangrove belts. Concrete constructions will
extract large quantities of sand from coastlines that are meant to protect
the islands, as well as exacerbate erosion. The consequences of the aid
provided could, in the long run, turn out to be yet another impact of the
massive wall of water that swept over the Nicobars on December 26, 2004.



C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...

THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
Oct. 6, 2005
Natl. level workshop on biodiversity at CARI on Oct. 7
Port Blair, Oct 05
    The National Biodiversity Authority, Govt. of India in collaboration with
Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), is conducting a workshop on
'Biodiversity and Bioresource Conservation Awareness' in the conference hall
of CARI, Port Blair on Oct 7. Shri D S Negi, Chief Secretary, A&N
Administration will inaugurate the workshop at a function at 9.30 in the
morning. Leading national authorities will interact with the scientists,
planners and stakeholders of these islands on biodiversity aspect, during
the workshop, a CARI communication here said.
    Meanwhile, the 4th meeting of the National Biodiversity Authority jointly
organized by NBA and CARI will be held on 6 Oct, 2005 in the Garacharma
campus of CARI. It will be attended by the members of the National
Biodiversity Authority. Prof. Dr. S Kannaiyan, Chairman, NBA will chair the
meeting. Smt Sushma Nath, Secretary, ICAR, New Delhi will participate in the
meeting.
    The other members, who will be participating in the meeting are Shri D D
Verma, Joint Secretary, MoEF, Govt. of India, Dr. L Kannan, Director of
Research, CAS, Annamalai University, Parangipettai; Dr. B R Subramaniam,
Director, DOD, Chennai; Dr. J P Mishra, ADG (IPR), ICAR; Shri A J Kurien,
Director, DST, New Delhi; Shri R B S Katwal, ADG (Forest), MoEF, the CARI
communication added.

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...


C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From the latest issue of
Frontline (Vol. 22 :: No. 21, Oct 08 - 21, 2005)

TSUNAMI & REHABILITATION

Picking up the threads

Life in Little Andaman, eight months after it was struck by the tsunami.
TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS: Pankaj Sekhsaria
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2221/stories/20051021000806400.htm


A COUPLE of fishing boats are gently bobbing up and down in the calm blue
waters of the ocean, which appears bound on one end by the eastern horizon.
Tying it up on the other side is a long strip of sparkling but lonely beach
peopled by a few fishermen mending their nets. Eight months after the
tsunami's giant landfall in Little Andaman, one is struck by the
exceptionally idyllic, albeit extremely deceptive, picture.
This is Hut Bay, the administrative headquarters of the island, 120 km south
of Port Blair. Located about halfway between the main group of the Andaman
islands and the southern Nicobar group, Little Andaman is rather
inappropriately named. Spread over nearly 730 square kilometres, it is not
`little' by any measure; it is one of the largest islands in the Andaman and
Nicobar group.


The magnitude of the destruction wrought by the tidal waves of December 26,
2004, was palpable at Hut Bay. Huge waves had created unprecedented havoc
there as they did all along the coastline in South and South-East Asia. The
jetty was almost entirely damaged. Our ship, mv Dering, was anchored out in
deeper waters and we had to hop on to a boat, which berthed itself to a
pontoon tied to the few chunks of the breakwater boulders that remained in
Hut Bay. As we headed towards the town, two tipper lorries, carrying
quarried stone for the reconstruction of the breakwater, passed by.
The evidence of the tidal assault is still there for all to see in Machi
Dera (meaning, fishing hamlet), which was, until the tsunami came, a
bustling settlement of a couple of hundred families, the first of whom
migrated to this place in the 1970s from the Srikakulam coast in Andhra
Pradesh. Small rectangular plinths are all that remain of the houses. Walls
with doors and window frames that stood on these plinths lie scattered; an
RCC (reinforced cement concrete) framework, uprooted from its base further
away, lies embedded in the sand at an odd angle; a wall that withstood the
tidal attack stands, still sporting the name T. VALLABHARAO in bold letters;
and on the adjoining plinth stands a rotting wooden column with a board with
the name G. APPALAMMA across it, like the cross on a tombstone.


There has obviously been post-tsunami activity here, in the hope that it
will help and ensure damage assessment and compensation when it comes.
Joga Rao, who, along with a handful of men, sits mending his nets, points to
a small coconut grove about 100 metres away. Five waves hit the coast that
morning. The biggest and the most damaging of these, rising to about 30
feet, was the fourth one. It topped the coconut trees, says Joga Rao, and
pushed the water inland for more than a kilometre. In fact, a report
submitted in April to the Department of Science and Technology by a team of
experts noted that the inland travel of sea water in Little Andaman was more
than what was noticed in the Nicobar islands.


"After the first wave came, it sucked the ocean dry as it went back,
exposing the shallow bed of the bay in front of us," Joga Rao continues.
"People could see hundreds of big and small fish thrashing on the bare bed.
Some of them even ran in to pick them up." But when the wave came back, the
residents realised something was wrong and ran inland. Nine people, eight of
them women, died in Machi Dera. Had the first wave been a bigger and more
powerful one, the casualties and damage would have been much higher.
The entire settlement got flattened. The community is dependent on fishing
for its livelihood. Of its fleet of 120 boats, all except two were washed
away. Both the administration and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have
promised to provide new boats, but these are yet to come. Official figures
of fish landings here tell the tale of destruction quite clearly. The fish
catch in March 2004 was nearly 90,000 kg. In March this year, it was only
about a 1,000 kg.



Serious damage was also caused to infrastructure in Hut Bay: The powerhouse
located near the beach was inundated and the township had to go without
power for many days; the post office, the telephone exchange, the primary
health centre and the local branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) suffered
damage. We walk into the now-desolate SBI complex. On the one side are a row
of deserted houses. Swiftlets dart in and out of them. They have obviously
found ideal nesting sites in the cool darkness of the false roofing in the
houses. The structure that housed the bank presents a pathetic picture.
Mounds of paper lie scattered outside. The shutter is damaged and is still
down. The adjoining wall has caved in allowing for access. Inside only
damaged furniture remain.
Adjacent to the wall of the SBI complex is a narrow concrete path that leads
to the intermediate shelters of Padauk Tikri, home to a few 100 families. An
estimated 6,000 of Little Andaman's 17,000-odd people are currently said to
be in one of five such shelters. Padauk Tikri is now home to the uprooted
residents of Machi Dera. The shelters, made of plain and corrugated
galvanised iron (CGI), have come in for considerable criticism. According to
government figures, a total of 1,448 tonnes of these sheets have been used
for the construction of nearly 2,000 intermediate shelters in Little
Andaman.



At Padauk Tikri, the shelters have been built on a small hillock with a
gentle slope. In the initial days those living on the top had to haul up
water, which was supplied by tankers. Those at the lower end complain about
sewage seeping from the hillock and entering their shelters. Work has begun
for the construction of a water tank and the laying of sewerage lines to
deal with the problem. It is clearly a difficult situation. Providing relief
and putting up the intermediate shelters in good time in the face of serious
logistical constraints would have certainly been a difficult task for the
planners and the implementing agencies. The only concern is whether it could
not have been done better.
The same concern is voiced in the intermediate shelters of Harminder Bay,
the Nicobari settlement located a few kilometres south of Hut Bay. The
Nicobarese of Harminder Bay were brought here from Car Nicobar, the island
immediately south of Little Andaman. Some 160-odd families were settled here
in the 1970s. Their population has obviously grown - the number of affected
families now in the intermediate shelter is about 400. The drive to this
settlement is through a long stretch of coconut plantations, the most
significant source of livelihood for the Nicobari community. Copra
preparation and trading is their key economic activity. One of the biggest
losses to these islands came from the large-scale inundation and destruction
of the coconut plantations. The Nicobarese of Harminder Bay are lucky in
that their plantations have survived although the entire settlement and
50-odd traditional fishing canoes were washed away.


The waves did spare a small part of their church, the part with the cross on
it. It is a small room with a mezzanine floor, which was probably at one end
of the church. Lying strewn on the ground are a couple of cane frameworks of
the Christmas star. From a window at the top one can still see the pulpit at
the far end, now completely exposed to the elements. Even the microphone
stand is in place, as is the book from which hymns were probably being sung
on that Sunday morning. `O Lord', begins the first line. The following words
are not clear as the paper has crumbled.
In the intermediate shelter located behind the coconut plantations we meet
Zita Rachel and Simon, who work with Action Aid and run the temporary school
for the Nicobari children. Zita also says that of the five waves that hit
them, the fourth was the biggest and the most destructive. "If the first
wave had been the size of the fourth," she says, "none of us would have
survived." There was no food available for the first few days. While there
were coconuts there were no implements to cut them open. The availability of
drinking water too was a serious problem, as water sources were damaged by
the intrusion of saline water. Initially there was only one dug well with
potable water, and there was a constant scramble for it. Now things have
slightly improved with tankers supplying water to the shelter. Zita invites
us into the tent, a makeshift school in which there is boisterous activity.
The children turn glum on seeing the strangers, but soon relax and introduce
themselves. Prodded by their teacher, they sing a few songs and recite a
couple of poems for us.
There is a lot of reconstruction activity going on on the island. There is
the framework for a school building being fabricated in one corner. Some
distance away, youth are working hard on the wooden framework of what looks
more like a traditional Nicobari dwelling built on stilts. Adjusting to the
tin boxes, which have been provided as intermediate shelters, has been
difficult for this indigenous community.


Ever since the tragedy struck, the people have been demanding a set of tools
that would allow them to begin reconstruction work. But this simple demand
was not heeded, not only by the authorities in Harminder Bay, but those in
the rest of the Nicobar Islands. As we take leave, a man cycles past us with
freshly harvested coconuts, cracked open in the centre to be smoked into
copra.
At Padauk Tikri, the resilient residents did not want to miss Ganesh
Chaturthi celebrations. A group of young men were seen working frenetically
on the construction of a pandal for the festival. Later, in the evening when
we were on board mv Dering on our way back to Port Blair, the same bunch of
youth were with us. They were on their way to get an idol of Ganesha and the
sound and music system for the festivities that were to start on September
7.


In more ways than one, this is just the beginning of a long haul for these
unfortunate thousands. Many are still scared to go back to the sea or have
no boats to resume their occupation
The intermediate shelters are likely to be their home at least for another
year and a half, if not more. Also, there is no clarity about where they
will be resettled. The local administration and the government are still
working out a plan for the re-establishment of the devastated settlements.


As we walked around the shelters, V. Kamesh Rao approached us. "Will you
take a photo?" he asked, pointing to the camera. Soon he gathered a bunch of
children, his own included, and posed for the picture.
Also waiting to be photographed was a woman with an empty fish basket on her
head. We had seen her earlier in the day, hawking in other parts of the
town. It was probably a day of good business. "My name is S. Barvati," she
said as she put down her basket. And there was a group of enthusiastic
children enjoying themselves in the play area who wanted their picture to be
taken. Life, indeed, has not lost its charm for these islanders.

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...

THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
Oct. 6, 2005
Construction of 500 more check dams on card in the isles
Port Blair, Oct 05
    Under the Rajiv Gandhi Relief Package of Agriculture it is proposed to
construct 500 Check dams in this island territory involving financial target
of Rs. 20 crores during the current financial year.
    In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, crops are grown under rainfed conditions.
Though this archipelago receives above 3000 mm of annual rainfall both from
northeast and southwest monsoons but due to the erratic nature of rainfall,
there is a scarcity of water during the period from December to May and in
the intermittent dry spells during the monsoons. This results in severe
moisture stress and ultimately results in the crops failure and poor
harvest.
   Undulating topography, impervious clayey, porous, sandy nature of soil and
varied rock formations and slope ranging from 2% to 4% facilitates meagre
infiltration. Thus a lion share of the rainfall goes into sea as run off.
   To implement the project, series of check dams were constructed in some of
the available streams in the Islands where water has been made available
even in the dry spell (i.e from January to May). Earlier, the water used to
flow directly into sea without any obstruction. These obstacles in the shape
of check dams created in the streams will automatically prevent the runoff
of rain water into the sea because velocity of the water will be reduced due
to the series of check dams created in the streams. This mechanism will
ultimately recharge the adjoining areas and increase the moisture content of
the soil, simultaneously this will stop severe soil and stream bank erosion.
Therefore, to make the islands sustainable in agriculture various types of
Minor Irrigation schemes are the only solution.
   Under the Minor Irrigation schemes, 101 check dams have been constructed
so far till March' 2005. Thus, an irrigation potential of 724.50 hectare
have been created by the 101 Nos. check dams. All the check dams are
constructed as per the technical guidelines given by Shri. A. Kar, Scientist
'D' (Geo-hydrologist) of Central Ground Water Board, Eastern Region,
Kolkata. The check dams are designed by Shri. Sarbjit Singh, Assistant
Engineer (MI) of the Department of Agriculture.
   Under the minor irrigation schemes check dams are constructed in the
streams flowing in between the arable field of the farmers. Check dams have
the various advantages for the farming community of A&N Islands. These are:
(i) Help in rainwater harvesting; (ii) Recharging ground water; (iii)
Providing drinking water for human aw well as consumption for cattle; (iv)
Irrigation of crops; (v) Prevent erosion of valuable soils and streams bank
protection and (vi) Reduce silt in the coral reefs areas thereby enhancing
fisheries resources.
   This will help to make the drainage system perennial through lot of water
conservation and recharge along its course. While typical terrain condition
and energy and geology, restricted creation of potential ground water
reservoir, simultaneously favourable catchments, channel width perenniality,
occurrence of frequent deep and shallow focus earthquake and above all, the
environmental regulation are the constraints for formation of medium dam
projects in these islands. However, the recent research and development
studies on artificial recharge and conservation studies by the Central
Ground Water Board has revealed the necessity for construction of small
check dams and subsurface dam with intake wells for water shed development
and rainwater harvesting in the islands. Prompted with the success of these
studies the Agriculture Development had taken imitative to conserve
rainwater and ground water in the stream valleys. Hence at the first stage
construction of check dams in the streams and nallahs of A&N has been
adopted.
    The zone wise position of check dams constructed vis-à-vis irrigation
potential created is as follows:-
Sl.
No. Zone Numbers Irrigation potential created (in ha.)
1. South Andaman 69 485.00
2. Middle Andaman 17 107.50
3. Mayabunder 06 048.00
4. Diglipur 09 084.00
Total 101 724.50



C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...

it is nice to receive yr mail mr pankaj.
u r correct but the correct design is state informatics officer.
I have been observing the correspondences among the grp.and interact as &
when req'd like the one happened earlier.
u r always welcome for any infn req'd and we will be happy to be of useful
in whatever way possible in providing the infn
warm wishes
sio
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pankaj" <pankaj@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Cc: <sio@...>
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 6:52 PM
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] New orders from Admin on website


> To
> The SIO, (which I presume is the State Information Officer)
> thanks indeed for your prompt response and the effort of sorting this out.
> I was not aware that you would be the person who is responsible for the
> A&N
> admin website, and also that you are active on the egroup. Its really nice
> and useful. Will certainly write to you directly in case of any queries or
> suggestions in the future.
>
> sincere wishes
> 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: sio <sio@...>
> To: <andamanicobar@...>
> Cc: <pankaj@...>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 9:51 AM
> Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] New orders from Admin on website
>
>
>> Dear mr pankaj
>> noted yr mail.
>> the issue is sorted out now and u may see  the orders u have mentioned.
>> pl give a mail in case of any issues.
>> sorry for the inconvenience caused when u access.
>> sio
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Pankaj" <pankaj@...>
>> To: <andamanicobar@...>
>> Cc: <kvpune@yahoogroups.com>
>> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 7:26 PM
>> Subject: [andamanicobar] New orders from Admin on website
>>
>>
>> > Dear All,
>> > On the website of the A&N administration at the link given below is a
> list
>> > of orders issues by the Administration. It would interesting and useful
> to
>> > know the details of some of these, particularly the latest two.
>> > If you go to the link, however you access to the details of the
> circulars
>> > is
>> > denied. the pop up box says you are not authorised to see this
>> > information.
>> > Can anyone please find out
>> > a) Why is access restricted and importantly
>> > b) The details of some of these orders.
>> > Thanks
>> > Pankaj
>> >
>> >
>> > Circulars / Orders / Notices / Forms / CVC Circulars / Office
>> > Memorandum
>> > Orders
>> > http://www.and.nic.in/ordersnew.htm
>> > Office MemorandumDateSubject
>> > 28-09-2005Order No.4077 - State Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
>> > 28-09-2005Order No.4076 - Island Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
>> > 23-09-2005Order No.4036 - Link Arrangements
>> > 22-09-2005Order No.4032 - Seventh batch of training programme in NIC
>> > 22-09-2005Order No.4028 - Appointment of Shri G C Joshi as Registrar of
>> > Cooperative Societies, A&N Admn.
>> > 22-09-2005Order No.4020 - Revised tariff in A&N Administration
> Government
>> > Guest houses
>> > 13-09-2005Order No. 3924 - Link Arrangement
>> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3921- Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
>> > Secretary
>> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3913 - Redistribution of work
>> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3912 - Redistribution of work
>> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3911 - Relieving Order of Shri.Naresh Kumar, IAS
>> > 08-09-2005Order No.3854 - Appointment of Shri.P.K.Gupta, IAS as
>> > Secretary(Revenue)
>> > 31-08-2005Order No.3772 - Work allotment to Smti.Sasikala Viswanathan,
>> > Evaluation Officer
>> > 31-08-2005Order No.3763 - Pay of Shri.Basu Kumar, DANICS (JAG)
>> > 30-08-2005Order No.3752 - Appointment of Shri.Vikas Anand, IAS as ADM,
>> > Andaman District
>> > 30-08-2005Order No.3743 - Change of accommodation to Govt.employees
>> > 29-08-2005Order No. 3734 - Appointment of Shri.Nareh Kumar, IAS as
>> > Resident
>> > Commissioner, A&N Admn., New Delhi
>> > 29-08-2005Order No.3733 - Relieving Order of Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
>> > 29-08-2005Order No.3729 - Fifth batch of training in NIC
>> > 29-08-2005Order No. 3720 - Tehsil Level Disaster Management Committees
>> > 29-08-2005Order No.3719 - Island Level Disaster Management Committees
>> > 29-08-2005Order No.3718 - Sub-Division Level Disaster Management
>> > Committees
>> > 26-08-2005Order No.3712 - Additional work allotment to Shri.Rajendra
>> > Kumar,
>> > IAS
>> > 26-08-2005Order No.3701 - Forth Batch of training in NIC
>> > 24-08-2005Order No.3673 - Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi shall hold the charge
>> > of
>> > Secretary(Law)
>> > 10-08-2005Order No.3405 - Shri.Anand Kumar Raha, WBHJS, to assign the
>> > additional charge of Secretary (Law).
>> > 08-08-2005Order No.3450 - Posting of Shri.Vivek Pandey, IAS as
>> > Asst.Commissioner, Campbell Bay
>> > 29-07-2005Order No.3342 - additional charge to Shri. Krishnamoorthy, as
>> > Superintendent, District Jail, Prothrapur
>> > 20-07-2005Order No.3171- Designation of Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Deputy
> Secretary
>> > (PWD) as Joint Secretary (PWD)
>> > 20-07-2005Order No.3180-Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
>> > Secretary (PWD)
>> > 19-07-2005Order No.3162 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers
>> > 13-07-2005Order No.3072 - Transfer/postings amongst the DANICS officers
>> > 05-07-2005Transfer/posting of Shri Rajeeva Shukla as AC, Mayabunder
>> > 27-06-2005Order No.2783 - Relieve Order of Shri. R.P.Pal, Secretary
> (Civil
>> > Supplies), A&N Admn.
>> > 13-06-2005Order No.2486- Amalgamation of Departments under "Local
>> > Self-Government".
>> > 19-05-2005Order No.2185-Designation of Chief Executive Officer, ZP as
> the
>> > Executive Director of DRDA, Andaman
>> > 18-04-2005Order No.1746-Monitoring and updating of websites
>> > 15-04-2005Order No.1721-Appointment of Shri.D.S.Negi, IAS as part time
>> > CVO,
>> > A&N Admin.
>> > 08-04-2005Order No.1652 -Appointment of Shri.N.P.Pillai as Director of
>> > Finance
>> > 06-04-2005Order No.1620 - Appointment of Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi, IAS as
> CEO
>> > 05-04-2005Order No.1582 - Redistribution of work/subject
>> > 28-03-2005Order No.1278 - Transfer/Posting of UTCS Officers
>> > 23-03-2005Order No.CF/SAND/3-1/434 - Allotment of coastal sand to the
>> > various user agencies for the period ending 31.12.2005.
>> > 21-03-2005Order No.1149 - Sanction of loan of Rs.2.60 crores to M/s
> SPCL,
>> > Hyderabad
>> > 21-03-2005Order No.1140 - Grant-in-aid amounting to Rs.54.00 lakhs to
>> > 10
>> > Gram Panchayats
>> > 14-03-2005Order No.962 - Designation of Joint Secretary and OSD(IT)-I &
> II
>> > 08-03-2005Order No.898 - Director Transport will function as
>> > Spl.Secy-cum-Dir.Transport
>> > 08-03-2005Order No.897- Link Arrangement
>> > 03-03-2005Order No.800- Allocation of subject 'Power' to Shri.P.K.Goel,
>> > IAS
>> > 03-03-2005Order No.799- Link Arrangement
>> > 03-03-2005Order No.798 - Allocation of subjects
>> > 01-03-2005Order No.781- Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
>> > deceased-obtaining of an indemnity bond from the beneficiary
>> > 28-02-2005Order No.762 - Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
>> > deceased by AC Campbell Bay and AC Nancowrie
>> > 23-02-2005Order No.701 - Link arrangements for Special
> Secretaries/deputy
>> > secretary
>> > 23-02-2005Order No.694 -State Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the
>> > implementation of programme relating to the restoration of Agriculture
> and
>> > Allied activities in A&N Islands
>> > 23-02-2005Order No.692 - Link Arrangements
>> > 23-02-2005Order No.691 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers of
>> > A&N
>> > Admn.
>> > 19-02-2005Order No.630 - Enhances ex-gratia payment form existing rate
> of
>> > Rs.50,000/- to Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased
>> > 19-02-2005Order No.629 - Sanction/disbursement of ex-gratia payment of
>> > Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased.
>> > 18-02-2005Order No.628 - Posting of Shri. S.N.Jha, DANICS(JAG) as CEO,
>> > Zilla
>> > Parishad, Port Blair
>> > 15-02-2005Order No.576 - Relieving Order of Shri.V.V.Bhat, Chief
>> > Secretary,
>> > A&N Admn.
>> > 07-02-2005Order No.435 - District Level Vigilance and Monitoring
> Committee
>> > for Rural Development Schemes.
>> > 24-01-2005Order No.259 - Allocation of subject "Information Technology"
> to
>> > Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS, A&N Admn.
>> > 24-01-2005Order No.209 - Shri K.S.Singh, Special Secretary(Shipping)
> shall
>> > look after the work of Director Finance and Special
>> > Secretary(Vigilance)
>> > 23-01-2005Order No.245 - Posting of Shri.A.Anbarasu, IAS as DC & DM,
>> > Nicobar
>> > 20-01-2005Order No.201 - Posting of Asst. Secretaries/Ad(Admn) with
>> > immediate effect.
>> > 10-01-2005Order No.64 - Appointment of Shri.Kailash Chandra as Special
>> > Secretary to LG & Vigilance
>> > 06-01-2005Order No.37 - Allocation of subjects Power, Panchyati Raj and
>> > Local Self Government to Shri.Janak Digal, Commr-cum-secy
>> > 06-01-2005Order No.32 - Duty of IT Cadre staff
>> > 06-01-2005Order No.26 - Chief Secretary, Secretaries, Special
> Secretaries,
>> > Dy.Secretaries and Asst.Secretaries are empowered to authenticate the
>> > orders
>> > and instruments to be made and executed.
>> > 06-01-2005Order No.25 - Order to sign affidavit and vakalatnama on
> behalf
>> > of
>> > LG and A&N Administration
>> > 03-01-2005Order No.4542 - Creation of Department of Rehabilitation
>> >
>> >
>> > C/o Kalpavriksh
>> > Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
>> > 908 Deccan Gymkhana
>> > Pune - 411004
>> > Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
>> > Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Yahoo! Groups Links
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>

I dont know any local environmentalist and cant help in this in any way, but
i do want to say how much this kind of activity gladdens my heart ! I was a
young student in Port Balir many years ago when my father was posted there
and have developed a life-long love for nature from those five years of
simply living there. I only wish I had exposure like this as well !
all the very best for this and future ventures,
madhulika

--
Madhulika Banerjee
XB4 Sahvikas Society
68 Patparganj
Delhi 110092.
Phone : 011-22443430 (home)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
Oct. 4, 2005
Stone for Emergency Operation Centre laid
Port Blair, Oct 03
   The Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has taken up major steps
towards preparedness for Disaster Management. One of the steps is
construction of Emergency Operation Centre at five places namely Port Blair,
Mayabunder, Car Nicobar, Nancowry and Campbell Bay.
   The foundation stone of the first Emergency Operation Centre in Port Blair
was laid by the Chief Secretary, Shri D S Negi on 2nd October 2005 in
presence of Shri S B Deol, Inspector General of Police, Shri Chetan B
sanghi, Commissioner-sum-Secretary (Revenue & Disaster Management), Shri P K
Gupta, Commissioner (Power), Shri Uddipta ray, Secretary to Lt. governor,
Shri Gyanesh Bharti, Deputy Commissioner, Andaman District, Smt Zubaida
Begum, Chairperson, PBMC and other senior officials of the Administration
and ALHW in the premises of District office.
   The Dy Chief Engineer, ALHW, Shri Bimal Gupta and the Deputy Commissioner,
Andamans, shri Gyanesh Bharti briefed the details of construction and
functions of Emergency Operation Centre and other disaster preparedness
plans being undertaken by the Department.
   The design of the building is prepared by Prof. A S Arya, National Seismic
Advisor, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The Emergency Operation Centre consists
of four different buildings viz. control room, conference room, resting room
and generator room. The buildings are designed as reinforced concrete frames
to sustain twice the seismic force for which residential buildings are
normally designed in each seismic zone. Emergency operation Centre buildings
will have much larger factor of safety against probable earthquake in the
respective areas. By this design the buildings will not only be safe against
collapse but will also remain functional after the occurrence of the natural
disaster.
   The Emergency Operation Centre will monitor hazards, disseminate accurate
warning and coordinate response when the disaster strikes. It is established
to act as a state of the art resource centre for emergency response in the
event of any disaster. The control room will be equipped with modern
communication systems like VSAT, POLNET, VHF, HF, Video Conferencing Unit
etc to communicate with major organizations. It will also be equipped with
Marine Warning system, cyclone warning systems to disseminate warning and
other equipment required in case of any emergency. The control room will
function round the clock. The Emergency Operation Centre is also expected to
guide and control relief operation in disaster management.

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...

madam
now u can see those orders without any problem.the access rights have been
removed.
pl inform still if u have any difficulties in accessing the page.
sio
----- Original Message -----
From: "anita g" <marineani@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Cc: "Pankaj" <pankaj@...>; <kvpune@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] New orders from Admin on website


> Dear Pankaj,
>
> When i checked for those pages, the web page /www.and.nic.in/ asked for
> the username & password to see those particular links. So i think
> we have to register to that site to look for future uninterrupted usage.
>
> Good luck
> Regards
> anita.
>
> Anita G. Mary, Ph.D.
> Marine Biologist, IERSE
> 579, 'Rajagam', II Cross Street
> Nesamony Nagar, Nagercoil-629 001
> Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 03 Oct 2005 Pankaj wrote :
>>Dear All,
>>On the website of the A&N administration at the link given below is a list
>>of orders issues by the Administration. It would interesting and useful to
>>know the details of some of these, particularly the latest two.
>>If you go to the link, however you access to the details of the circulars
>>is
>>denied. the pop up box says you are not authorised to see this
>>information.
>>Can anyone please find out
>>a) Why is access restricted and importantly
>>b) The details of some of these orders.
>>Thanks
>>Pankaj
>>
>>
>>Circulars / Orders / Notices / Forms / CVC Circulars / Office Memorandum
>>Orders
>>http://www.and.nic.in/ordersnew.htm
>>Office MemorandumDateSubject
>>28-09-2005Order No.4077 - State Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
>>28-09-2005Order No.4076 - Island Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
>>23-09-2005Order No.4036 - Link Arrangements
>>22-09-2005Order No.4032 - Seventh batch of training programme in NIC
>>22-09-2005Order No.4028 - Appointment of Shri G C Joshi as Registrar of
>>Cooperative Societies, A&N Admn.
>>22-09-2005Order No.4020 - Revised tariff in A&N Administration Government
>>Guest houses
>>13-09-2005Order No. 3924 - Link Arrangement
>>12-09-2005Order No. 3921- Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
>>Secretary
>>12-09-2005Order No. 3913 - Redistribution of work
>>12-09-2005Order No. 3912 - Redistribution of work
>>12-09-2005Order No. 3911 - Relieving Order of Shri.Naresh Kumar, IAS
>>08-09-2005Order No.3854 - Appointment of Shri.P.K.Gupta, IAS as
>>Secretary(Revenue)
>>31-08-2005Order No.3772 - Work allotment to Smti.Sasikala Viswanathan,
>>Evaluation Officer
>>31-08-2005Order No.3763 - Pay of Shri.Basu Kumar, DANICS (JAG)
>>30-08-2005Order No.3752 - Appointment of Shri.Vikas Anand, IAS as ADM,
>>Andaman District
>>30-08-2005Order No.3743 - Change of accommodation to Govt.employees
>>29-08-2005Order No. 3734 - Appointment of Shri.Nareh Kumar, IAS as
>>Resident
>>Commissioner, A&N Admn., New Delhi
>>29-08-2005Order No.3733 - Relieving Order of Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
>>29-08-2005Order No.3729 - Fifth batch of training in NIC
>>29-08-2005Order No. 3720 - Tehsil Level Disaster Management Committees
>>29-08-2005Order No.3719 - Island Level Disaster Management Committees
>>29-08-2005Order No.3718 - Sub-Division Level Disaster Management
>>Committees
>>26-08-2005Order No.3712 - Additional work allotment to Shri.Rajendra
>>Kumar,
>>IAS
>>26-08-2005Order No.3701 - Forth Batch of training in NIC
>>24-08-2005Order No.3673 - Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi shall hold the charge of
>>Secretary(Law)
>>10-08-2005Order No.3405 - Shri.Anand Kumar Raha, WBHJS, to assign the
>>additional charge of Secretary (Law).
>>08-08-2005Order No.3450 - Posting of Shri.Vivek Pandey, IAS as
>>Asst.Commissioner, Campbell Bay
>>29-07-2005Order No.3342 - additional charge to Shri. Krishnamoorthy, as
>>Superintendent, District Jail, Prothrapur
>>20-07-2005Order No.3171- Designation of Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Deputy Secretary
>>(PWD) as Joint Secretary (PWD)
>>20-07-2005Order No.3180-Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
>>Secretary (PWD)
>>19-07-2005Order No.3162 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers
>>13-07-2005Order No.3072 - Transfer/postings amongst the DANICS officers
>>05-07-2005Transfer/posting of Shri Rajeeva Shukla as AC, Mayabunder
>>27-06-2005Order No.2783 - Relieve Order of Shri. R.P.Pal, Secretary (Civil
>>Supplies), A&N Admn.
>>13-06-2005Order No.2486- Amalgamation of Departments under "Local
>>Self-Government".
>>19-05-2005Order No.2185-Designation of Chief Executive Officer, ZP as the
>>Executive Director of DRDA, Andaman
>>18-04-2005Order No.1746-Monitoring and updating of websites
>>15-04-2005Order No.1721-Appointment of Shri.D.S.Negi, IAS as part time
>>CVO,
>>A&N Admin.
>>08-04-2005Order No.1652 -Appointment of Shri.N.P.Pillai as Director of
>>Finance
>>06-04-2005Order No.1620 - Appointment of Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi, IAS as CEO
>>05-04-2005Order No.1582 - Redistribution of work/subject
>>28-03-2005Order No.1278 - Transfer/Posting of UTCS Officers
>>23-03-2005Order No.CF/SAND/3-1/434 - Allotment of coastal sand to the
>>various user agencies for the period ending 31.12.2005.
>>21-03-2005Order No.1149 - Sanction of loan of Rs.2.60 crores to M/s SPCL,
>>Hyderabad
>>21-03-2005Order No.1140 - Grant-in-aid amounting to Rs.54.00 lakhs to 10
>>Gram Panchayats
>>14-03-2005Order No.962 - Designation of Joint Secretary and OSD(IT)-I & II
>>08-03-2005Order No.898 - Director Transport will function as
>>Spl.Secy-cum-Dir.Transport
>>08-03-2005Order No.897- Link Arrangement
>>03-03-2005Order No.800- Allocation of subject 'Power' to Shri.P.K.Goel,
>>IAS
>>03-03-2005Order No.799- Link Arrangement
>>03-03-2005Order No.798 - Allocation of subjects
>>01-03-2005Order No.781- Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
>>deceased-obtaining of an indemnity bond from the beneficiary
>>28-02-2005Order No.762 - Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
>>deceased by AC Campbell Bay and AC Nancowrie
>>23-02-2005Order No.701 - Link arrangements for Special Secretaries/deputy
>>secretary
>>23-02-2005Order No.694 -State Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the
>>implementation of programme relating to the restoration of Agriculture and
>>Allied activities in A&N Islands
>>23-02-2005Order No.692 - Link Arrangements
>>23-02-2005Order No.691 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers of
>>A&N
>>Admn.
>>19-02-2005Order No.630 - Enhances ex-gratia payment form existing rate of
>>Rs.50,000/- to Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased
>>19-02-2005Order No.629 - Sanction/disbursement of ex-gratia payment of
>>Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased.
>>18-02-2005Order No.628 - Posting of Shri. S.N.Jha, DANICS(JAG) as CEO,
>>Zilla
>>Parishad, Port Blair
>>15-02-2005Order No.576 - Relieving Order of Shri.V.V.Bhat, Chief
>>Secretary,
>>A&N Admn.
>>07-02-2005Order No.435 - District Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee
>>for Rural Development Schemes.
>>24-01-2005Order No.259 - Allocation of subject "Information Technology" to
>>Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS, A&N Admn.
>>24-01-2005Order No.209 - Shri K.S.Singh, Special Secretary(Shipping) shall
>>look after the work of Director Finance and Special Secretary(Vigilance)
>>23-01-2005Order No.245 - Posting of Shri.A.Anbarasu, IAS as DC & DM,
>>Nicobar
>>20-01-2005Order No.201 - Posting of Asst. Secretaries/Ad(Admn) with
>>immediate effect.
>>10-01-2005Order No.64 - Appointment of Shri.Kailash Chandra as Special
>>Secretary to LG & Vigilance
>>06-01-2005Order No.37 - Allocation of subjects Power, Panchyati Raj and
>>Local Self Government to Shri.Janak Digal, Commr-cum-secy
>>06-01-2005Order No.32 - Duty of IT Cadre staff
>>06-01-2005Order No.26 - Chief Secretary, Secretaries, Special Secretaries,
>>Dy.Secretaries and Asst.Secretaries are empowered to authenticate the
>>orders
>>and instruments to be made and executed.
>>06-01-2005Order No.25 - Order to sign affidavit and vakalatnama on behalf
>>of
>>LG and A&N Administration
>>03-01-2005Order No.4542 - Creation of Department of Rehabilitation
>>
>>
>>C/o Kalpavriksh
>>Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
>>908 Deccan Gymkhana
>>Pune - 411004
>>Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
>>Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
Oct. 4, 2005
Stone for Emergency Operation Centre laid
Port Blair, Oct 03
   The Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has taken up major steps
towards preparedness for Disaster Management. One of the steps is
construction of Emergency Operation Centre at five places namely Port Blair,
Mayabunder, Car Nicobar, Nancowry and Campbell Bay.
   The foundation stone of the first Emergency Operation Centre in Port Blair
was laid by the Chief Secretary, Shri D S Negi on 2nd October 2005 in
presence of Shri S B Deol, Inspector General of Police, Shri Chetan B
sanghi, Commissioner-sum-Secretary (Revenue & Disaster Management), Shri P K
Gupta, Commissioner (Power), Shri Uddipta ray, Secretary to Lt. governor,
Shri Gyanesh Bharti, Deputy Commissioner, Andaman District, Smt Zubaida
Begum, Chairperson, PBMC and other senior officials of the Administration
and ALHW in the premises of District office.
   The Dy Chief Engineer, ALHW, Shri Bimal Gupta and the Deputy Commissioner,
Andamans, shri Gyanesh Bharti briefed the details of construction and
functions of Emergency Operation Centre and other disaster preparedness
plans being undertaken by the Department.
   The design of the building is prepared by Prof. A S Arya, National Seismic
Advisor, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The Emergency Operation Centre consists
of four different buildings viz. control room, conference room, resting room
and generator room. The buildings are designed as reinforced concrete frames
to sustain twice the seismic force for which residential buildings are
normally designed in each seismic zone. Emergency operation Centre buildings
will have much larger factor of safety against probable earthquake in the
respective areas. By this design the buildings will not only be safe against
collapse but will also remain functional after the occurrence of the natural
disaster.
   The Emergency Operation Centre will monitor hazards, disseminate accurate
warning and coordinate response when the disaster strikes. It is established
to act as a state of the art resource centre for emergency response in the
event of any disaster. The control room will be equipped with modern
communication systems like VSAT, POLNET, VHF, HF, Video Conferencing Unit
etc to communicate with major organizations. It will also be equipped with
Marine Warning system, cyclone warning systems to disseminate warning and
other equipment required in case of any emergency. The control room will
function round the clock. The Emergency Operation Centre is also expected to
guide and control relief operation in disaster management.

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

To
The SIO, (which I presume is the State Information Officer)
thanks indeed for your prompt response and the effort of sorting this out.
I was not aware that you would be the person who is responsible for the A&N
admin website, and also that you are active on the egroup. Its really nice
and useful. Will certainly write to you directly in case of any queries or
suggestions in the future.

sincere wishes
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: sio <sio@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Cc: <pankaj@...>
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 9:51 AM
Subject: Re: [andamanicobar] New orders from Admin on website


> Dear mr pankaj
> noted yr mail.
> the issue is sorted out now and u may see  the orders u have mentioned.
> pl give a mail in case of any issues.
> sorry for the inconvenience caused when u access.
> sio
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pankaj" <pankaj@...>
> To: <andamanicobar@...>
> Cc: <kvpune@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 7:26 PM
> Subject: [andamanicobar] New orders from Admin on website
>
>
> > Dear All,
> > On the website of the A&N administration at the link given below is a
list
> > of orders issues by the Administration. It would interesting and useful
to
> > know the details of some of these, particularly the latest two.
> > If you go to the link, however you access to the details of the
circulars
> > is
> > denied. the pop up box says you are not authorised to see this
> > information.
> > Can anyone please find out
> > a) Why is access restricted and importantly
> > b) The details of some of these orders.
> > Thanks
> > Pankaj
> >
> >
> > Circulars / Orders / Notices / Forms / CVC Circulars / Office Memorandum
> > Orders
> > http://www.and.nic.in/ordersnew.htm
> > Office MemorandumDateSubject
> > 28-09-2005Order No.4077 - State Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
> > 28-09-2005Order No.4076 - Island Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
> > 23-09-2005Order No.4036 - Link Arrangements
> > 22-09-2005Order No.4032 - Seventh batch of training programme in NIC
> > 22-09-2005Order No.4028 - Appointment of Shri G C Joshi as Registrar of
> > Cooperative Societies, A&N Admn.
> > 22-09-2005Order No.4020 - Revised tariff in A&N Administration
Government
> > Guest houses
> > 13-09-2005Order No. 3924 - Link Arrangement
> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3921- Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
> > Secretary
> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3913 - Redistribution of work
> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3912 - Redistribution of work
> > 12-09-2005Order No. 3911 - Relieving Order of Shri.Naresh Kumar, IAS
> > 08-09-2005Order No.3854 - Appointment of Shri.P.K.Gupta, IAS as
> > Secretary(Revenue)
> > 31-08-2005Order No.3772 - Work allotment to Smti.Sasikala Viswanathan,
> > Evaluation Officer
> > 31-08-2005Order No.3763 - Pay of Shri.Basu Kumar, DANICS (JAG)
> > 30-08-2005Order No.3752 - Appointment of Shri.Vikas Anand, IAS as ADM,
> > Andaman District
> > 30-08-2005Order No.3743 - Change of accommodation to Govt.employees
> > 29-08-2005Order No. 3734 - Appointment of Shri.Nareh Kumar, IAS as
> > Resident
> > Commissioner, A&N Admn., New Delhi
> > 29-08-2005Order No.3733 - Relieving Order of Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
> > 29-08-2005Order No.3729 - Fifth batch of training in NIC
> > 29-08-2005Order No. 3720 - Tehsil Level Disaster Management Committees
> > 29-08-2005Order No.3719 - Island Level Disaster Management Committees
> > 29-08-2005Order No.3718 - Sub-Division Level Disaster Management
> > Committees
> > 26-08-2005Order No.3712 - Additional work allotment to Shri.Rajendra
> > Kumar,
> > IAS
> > 26-08-2005Order No.3701 - Forth Batch of training in NIC
> > 24-08-2005Order No.3673 - Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi shall hold the charge of
> > Secretary(Law)
> > 10-08-2005Order No.3405 - Shri.Anand Kumar Raha, WBHJS, to assign the
> > additional charge of Secretary (Law).
> > 08-08-2005Order No.3450 - Posting of Shri.Vivek Pandey, IAS as
> > Asst.Commissioner, Campbell Bay
> > 29-07-2005Order No.3342 - additional charge to Shri. Krishnamoorthy, as
> > Superintendent, District Jail, Prothrapur
> > 20-07-2005Order No.3171- Designation of Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Deputy
Secretary
> > (PWD) as Joint Secretary (PWD)
> > 20-07-2005Order No.3180-Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
> > Secretary (PWD)
> > 19-07-2005Order No.3162 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers
> > 13-07-2005Order No.3072 - Transfer/postings amongst the DANICS officers
> > 05-07-2005Transfer/posting of Shri Rajeeva Shukla as AC, Mayabunder
> > 27-06-2005Order No.2783 - Relieve Order of Shri. R.P.Pal, Secretary
(Civil
> > Supplies), A&N Admn.
> > 13-06-2005Order No.2486- Amalgamation of Departments under "Local
> > Self-Government".
> > 19-05-2005Order No.2185-Designation of Chief Executive Officer, ZP as
the
> > Executive Director of DRDA, Andaman
> > 18-04-2005Order No.1746-Monitoring and updating of websites
> > 15-04-2005Order No.1721-Appointment of Shri.D.S.Negi, IAS as part time
> > CVO,
> > A&N Admin.
> > 08-04-2005Order No.1652 -Appointment of Shri.N.P.Pillai as Director of
> > Finance
> > 06-04-2005Order No.1620 - Appointment of Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi, IAS as
CEO
> > 05-04-2005Order No.1582 - Redistribution of work/subject
> > 28-03-2005Order No.1278 - Transfer/Posting of UTCS Officers
> > 23-03-2005Order No.CF/SAND/3-1/434 - Allotment of coastal sand to the
> > various user agencies for the period ending 31.12.2005.
> > 21-03-2005Order No.1149 - Sanction of loan of Rs.2.60 crores to M/s
SPCL,
> > Hyderabad
> > 21-03-2005Order No.1140 - Grant-in-aid amounting to Rs.54.00 lakhs to 10
> > Gram Panchayats
> > 14-03-2005Order No.962 - Designation of Joint Secretary and OSD(IT)-I &
II
> > 08-03-2005Order No.898 - Director Transport will function as
> > Spl.Secy-cum-Dir.Transport
> > 08-03-2005Order No.897- Link Arrangement
> > 03-03-2005Order No.800- Allocation of subject 'Power' to Shri.P.K.Goel,
> > IAS
> > 03-03-2005Order No.799- Link Arrangement
> > 03-03-2005Order No.798 - Allocation of subjects
> > 01-03-2005Order No.781- Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
> > deceased-obtaining of an indemnity bond from the beneficiary
> > 28-02-2005Order No.762 - Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
> > deceased by AC Campbell Bay and AC Nancowrie
> > 23-02-2005Order No.701 - Link arrangements for Special
Secretaries/deputy
> > secretary
> > 23-02-2005Order No.694 -State Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the
> > implementation of programme relating to the restoration of Agriculture
and
> > Allied activities in A&N Islands
> > 23-02-2005Order No.692 - Link Arrangements
> > 23-02-2005Order No.691 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers of
> > A&N
> > Admn.
> > 19-02-2005Order No.630 - Enhances ex-gratia payment form existing rate
of
> > Rs.50,000/- to Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased
> > 19-02-2005Order No.629 - Sanction/disbursement of ex-gratia payment of
> > Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased.
> > 18-02-2005Order No.628 - Posting of Shri. S.N.Jha, DANICS(JAG) as CEO,
> > Zilla
> > Parishad, Port Blair
> > 15-02-2005Order No.576 - Relieving Order of Shri.V.V.Bhat, Chief
> > Secretary,
> > A&N Admn.
> > 07-02-2005Order No.435 - District Level Vigilance and Monitoring
Committee
> > for Rural Development Schemes.
> > 24-01-2005Order No.259 - Allocation of subject "Information Technology"
to
> > Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS, A&N Admn.
> > 24-01-2005Order No.209 - Shri K.S.Singh, Special Secretary(Shipping)
shall
> > look after the work of Director Finance and Special Secretary(Vigilance)
> > 23-01-2005Order No.245 - Posting of Shri.A.Anbarasu, IAS as DC & DM,
> > Nicobar
> > 20-01-2005Order No.201 - Posting of Asst. Secretaries/Ad(Admn) with
> > immediate effect.
> > 10-01-2005Order No.64 - Appointment of Shri.Kailash Chandra as Special
> > Secretary to LG & Vigilance
> > 06-01-2005Order No.37 - Allocation of subjects Power, Panchyati Raj and
> > Local Self Government to Shri.Janak Digal, Commr-cum-secy
> > 06-01-2005Order No.32 - Duty of IT Cadre staff
> > 06-01-2005Order No.26 - Chief Secretary, Secretaries, Special
Secretaries,
> > Dy.Secretaries and Asst.Secretaries are empowered to authenticate the
> > orders
> > and instruments to be made and executed.
> > 06-01-2005Order No.25 - Order to sign affidavit and vakalatnama on
behalf
> > of
> > LG and A&N Administration
> > 03-01-2005Order No.4542 - Creation of Department of Rehabilitation
> >
> >
> > C/o Kalpavriksh
> > Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> > 908 Deccan Gymkhana
> > Pune - 411004
> > Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
> > Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

to add to names on entomology from Amlans list are
Dr's Mohan and VennaKumari formerly of CARI, and Dr
Kailash Chandra of ZSI. Te former worked largely on
lepidoptera, whereas the latter did other species too

--- Amlan Dutta <amlan77@...> wrote:

>
> Dear Shubha Laxmi,
>
>
>
> There is Dr. Khatri of the JNRM college in Port
> Blair who has worked on butterflies, and there is Dr
> Priya Davidar (Pondicherry University - Reader )
>
> Both have publications on butterflies.
>
>
>
> Dr. Davidar's work on butterflies were mostly on the
> island biogeographical aspects of the island group.
>
>
>
> Then there is CARI (Central Agri. Res. Inst.), Port
> Blair,
>
>
>
> ZSI (Haddo) would also have a resident entomologist.
>
>
>
>
> hope this helps...
>
>
>
> Amlan Dutta
>
>
> ---------------------------------
>  Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>




__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com

Dear mr pankaj
noted yr mail.
the issue is sorted out now and u may see  the orders u have mentioned.
pl give a mail in case of any issues.
sorry for the inconvenience caused when u access.
sio

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pankaj" <pankaj@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Cc: <kvpune@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 7:26 PM
Subject: [andamanicobar] New orders from Admin on website


> Dear All,
> On the website of the A&N administration at the link given below is a list
> of orders issues by the Administration. It would interesting and useful to
> know the details of some of these, particularly the latest two.
> If you go to the link, however you access to the details of the circulars
> is
> denied. the pop up box says you are not authorised to see this
> information.
> Can anyone please find out
> a) Why is access restricted and importantly
> b) The details of some of these orders.
> Thanks
> Pankaj
>
>
> Circulars / Orders / Notices / Forms / CVC Circulars / Office Memorandum
> Orders
> http://www.and.nic.in/ordersnew.htm
> Office MemorandumDateSubject
> 28-09-2005Order No.4077 - State Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
> 28-09-2005Order No.4076 - Island Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
> 23-09-2005Order No.4036 - Link Arrangements
> 22-09-2005Order No.4032 - Seventh batch of training programme in NIC
> 22-09-2005Order No.4028 - Appointment of Shri G C Joshi as Registrar of
> Cooperative Societies, A&N Admn.
> 22-09-2005Order No.4020 - Revised tariff in A&N Administration Government
> Guest houses
> 13-09-2005Order No. 3924 - Link Arrangement
> 12-09-2005Order No. 3921- Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
> Secretary
> 12-09-2005Order No. 3913 - Redistribution of work
> 12-09-2005Order No. 3912 - Redistribution of work
> 12-09-2005Order No. 3911 - Relieving Order of Shri.Naresh Kumar, IAS
> 08-09-2005Order No.3854 - Appointment of Shri.P.K.Gupta, IAS as
> Secretary(Revenue)
> 31-08-2005Order No.3772 - Work allotment to Smti.Sasikala Viswanathan,
> Evaluation Officer
> 31-08-2005Order No.3763 - Pay of Shri.Basu Kumar, DANICS (JAG)
> 30-08-2005Order No.3752 - Appointment of Shri.Vikas Anand, IAS as ADM,
> Andaman District
> 30-08-2005Order No.3743 - Change of accommodation to Govt.employees
> 29-08-2005Order No. 3734 - Appointment of Shri.Nareh Kumar, IAS as
> Resident
> Commissioner, A&N Admn., New Delhi
> 29-08-2005Order No.3733 - Relieving Order of Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
> 29-08-2005Order No.3729 - Fifth batch of training in NIC
> 29-08-2005Order No. 3720 - Tehsil Level Disaster Management Committees
> 29-08-2005Order No.3719 - Island Level Disaster Management Committees
> 29-08-2005Order No.3718 - Sub-Division Level Disaster Management
> Committees
> 26-08-2005Order No.3712 - Additional work allotment to Shri.Rajendra
> Kumar,
> IAS
> 26-08-2005Order No.3701 - Forth Batch of training in NIC
> 24-08-2005Order No.3673 - Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi shall hold the charge of
> Secretary(Law)
> 10-08-2005Order No.3405 - Shri.Anand Kumar Raha, WBHJS, to assign the
> additional charge of Secretary (Law).
> 08-08-2005Order No.3450 - Posting of Shri.Vivek Pandey, IAS as
> Asst.Commissioner, Campbell Bay
> 29-07-2005Order No.3342 - additional charge to Shri. Krishnamoorthy, as
> Superintendent, District Jail, Prothrapur
> 20-07-2005Order No.3171- Designation of Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Deputy Secretary
> (PWD) as Joint Secretary (PWD)
> 20-07-2005Order No.3180-Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
> Secretary (PWD)
> 19-07-2005Order No.3162 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers
> 13-07-2005Order No.3072 - Transfer/postings amongst the DANICS officers
> 05-07-2005Transfer/posting of Shri Rajeeva Shukla as AC, Mayabunder
> 27-06-2005Order No.2783 - Relieve Order of Shri. R.P.Pal, Secretary (Civil
> Supplies), A&N Admn.
> 13-06-2005Order No.2486- Amalgamation of Departments under "Local
> Self-Government".
> 19-05-2005Order No.2185-Designation of Chief Executive Officer, ZP as the
> Executive Director of DRDA, Andaman
> 18-04-2005Order No.1746-Monitoring and updating of websites
> 15-04-2005Order No.1721-Appointment of Shri.D.S.Negi, IAS as part time
> CVO,
> A&N Admin.
> 08-04-2005Order No.1652 -Appointment of Shri.N.P.Pillai as Director of
> Finance
> 06-04-2005Order No.1620 - Appointment of Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi, IAS as CEO
> 05-04-2005Order No.1582 - Redistribution of work/subject
> 28-03-2005Order No.1278 - Transfer/Posting of UTCS Officers
> 23-03-2005Order No.CF/SAND/3-1/434 - Allotment of coastal sand to the
> various user agencies for the period ending 31.12.2005.
> 21-03-2005Order No.1149 - Sanction of loan of Rs.2.60 crores to M/s SPCL,
> Hyderabad
> 21-03-2005Order No.1140 - Grant-in-aid amounting to Rs.54.00 lakhs to 10
> Gram Panchayats
> 14-03-2005Order No.962 - Designation of Joint Secretary and OSD(IT)-I & II
> 08-03-2005Order No.898 - Director Transport will function as
> Spl.Secy-cum-Dir.Transport
> 08-03-2005Order No.897- Link Arrangement
> 03-03-2005Order No.800- Allocation of subject 'Power' to Shri.P.K.Goel,
> IAS
> 03-03-2005Order No.799- Link Arrangement
> 03-03-2005Order No.798 - Allocation of subjects
> 01-03-2005Order No.781- Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
> deceased-obtaining of an indemnity bond from the beneficiary
> 28-02-2005Order No.762 - Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
> deceased by AC Campbell Bay and AC Nancowrie
> 23-02-2005Order No.701 - Link arrangements for Special Secretaries/deputy
> secretary
> 23-02-2005Order No.694 -State Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the
> implementation of programme relating to the restoration of Agriculture and
> Allied activities in A&N Islands
> 23-02-2005Order No.692 - Link Arrangements
> 23-02-2005Order No.691 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers of
> A&N
> Admn.
> 19-02-2005Order No.630 - Enhances ex-gratia payment form existing rate of
> Rs.50,000/- to Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased
> 19-02-2005Order No.629 - Sanction/disbursement of ex-gratia payment of
> Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased.
> 18-02-2005Order No.628 - Posting of Shri. S.N.Jha, DANICS(JAG) as CEO,
> Zilla
> Parishad, Port Blair
> 15-02-2005Order No.576 - Relieving Order of Shri.V.V.Bhat, Chief
> Secretary,
> A&N Admn.
> 07-02-2005Order No.435 - District Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee
> for Rural Development Schemes.
> 24-01-2005Order No.259 - Allocation of subject "Information Technology" to
> Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS, A&N Admn.
> 24-01-2005Order No.209 - Shri K.S.Singh, Special Secretary(Shipping) shall
> look after the work of Director Finance and Special Secretary(Vigilance)
> 23-01-2005Order No.245 - Posting of Shri.A.Anbarasu, IAS as DC & DM,
> Nicobar
> 20-01-2005Order No.201 - Posting of Asst. Secretaries/Ad(Admn) with
> immediate effect.
> 10-01-2005Order No.64 - Appointment of Shri.Kailash Chandra as Special
> Secretary to LG & Vigilance
> 06-01-2005Order No.37 - Allocation of subjects Power, Panchyati Raj and
> Local Self Government to Shri.Janak Digal, Commr-cum-secy
> 06-01-2005Order No.32 - Duty of IT Cadre staff
> 06-01-2005Order No.26 - Chief Secretary, Secretaries, Special Secretaries,
> Dy.Secretaries and Asst.Secretaries are empowered to authenticate the
> orders
> and instruments to be made and executed.
> 06-01-2005Order No.25 - Order to sign affidavit and vakalatnama on behalf
> of
> LG and A&N Administration
> 03-01-2005Order No.4542 - Creation of Department of Rehabilitation
>
>
> C/o Kalpavriksh
> Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
> 908 Deccan Gymkhana
> Pune - 411004
> Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
> Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

 Dear Pankaj,

When i checked for those pages, the web page /www.and.nic.in/ asked for the
username & password to see those particular links. So i think
we have to register to that site to look for future uninterrupted usage.

Good luck
Regards
anita.

Anita G. Mary, Ph.D.
Marine Biologist, IERSE
579, 'Rajagam', II Cross Street
Nesamony Nagar, Nagercoil-629 001
Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.





On Mon, 03 Oct 2005 Pankaj wrote :
>Dear All,
>On the website of the A&N administration at the link given below is a list
>of orders issues by the Administration. It would interesting and useful to
>know the details of some of these, particularly the latest two.
>If you go to the link, however you access to the details of the circulars is
>denied. the pop up box says you are not authorised to see this information.
>Can anyone please find out
>a) Why is access restricted and importantly
>b) The details of some of these orders.
>Thanks
>Pankaj
>
>
>Circulars / Orders / Notices / Forms / CVC Circulars / Office Memorandum
>Orders
>http://www.and.nic.in/ordersnew.htm
>Office MemorandumDateSubject
>28-09-2005Order No.4077 - State Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
>28-09-2005Order No.4076 - Island Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
>23-09-2005Order No.4036 - Link Arrangements
>22-09-2005Order No.4032 - Seventh batch of training programme in NIC
>22-09-2005Order No.4028 - Appointment of Shri G C Joshi as Registrar of
>Cooperative Societies, A&N Admn.
>22-09-2005Order No.4020 - Revised tariff in A&N Administration Government
>Guest houses
>13-09-2005Order No. 3924 - Link Arrangement
>12-09-2005Order No. 3921- Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
>Secretary
>12-09-2005Order No. 3913 - Redistribution of work
>12-09-2005Order No. 3912 - Redistribution of work
>12-09-2005Order No. 3911 - Relieving Order of Shri.Naresh Kumar, IAS
>08-09-2005Order No.3854 - Appointment of Shri.P.K.Gupta, IAS as
>Secretary(Revenue)
>31-08-2005Order No.3772 - Work allotment to Smti.Sasikala Viswanathan,
>Evaluation Officer
>31-08-2005Order No.3763 - Pay of Shri.Basu Kumar, DANICS (JAG)
>30-08-2005Order No.3752 - Appointment of Shri.Vikas Anand, IAS as ADM,
>Andaman District
>30-08-2005Order No.3743 - Change of accommodation to Govt.employees
>29-08-2005Order No. 3734 - Appointment of Shri.Nareh Kumar, IAS as Resident
>Commissioner, A&N Admn., New Delhi
>29-08-2005Order No.3733 - Relieving Order of Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
>29-08-2005Order No.3729 - Fifth batch of training in NIC
>29-08-2005Order No. 3720 - Tehsil Level Disaster Management Committees
>29-08-2005Order No.3719 - Island Level Disaster Management Committees
>29-08-2005Order No.3718 - Sub-Division Level Disaster Management Committees
>26-08-2005Order No.3712 - Additional work allotment to Shri.Rajendra Kumar,
>IAS
>26-08-2005Order No.3701 - Forth Batch of training in NIC
>24-08-2005Order No.3673 - Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi shall hold the charge of
>Secretary(Law)
>10-08-2005Order No.3405 - Shri.Anand Kumar Raha, WBHJS, to assign the
>additional charge of Secretary (Law).
>08-08-2005Order No.3450 - Posting of Shri.Vivek Pandey, IAS as
>Asst.Commissioner, Campbell Bay
>29-07-2005Order No.3342 - additional charge to Shri. Krishnamoorthy, as
>Superintendent, District Jail, Prothrapur
>20-07-2005Order No.3171- Designation of Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Deputy Secretary
>(PWD) as Joint Secretary (PWD)
>20-07-2005Order No.3180-Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
>Secretary (PWD)
>19-07-2005Order No.3162 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers
>13-07-2005Order No.3072 - Transfer/postings amongst the DANICS officers
>05-07-2005Transfer/posting of Shri Rajeeva Shukla as AC, Mayabunder
>27-06-2005Order No.2783 - Relieve Order of Shri. R.P.Pal, Secretary (Civil
>Supplies), A&N Admn.
>13-06-2005Order No.2486- Amalgamation of Departments under "Local
>Self-Government".
>19-05-2005Order No.2185-Designation of Chief Executive Officer, ZP as the
>Executive Director of DRDA, Andaman
>18-04-2005Order No.1746-Monitoring and updating of websites
>15-04-2005Order No.1721-Appointment of Shri.D.S.Negi, IAS as part time CVO,
>A&N Admin.
>08-04-2005Order No.1652 -Appointment of Shri.N.P.Pillai as Director of
>Finance
>06-04-2005Order No.1620 - Appointment of Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi, IAS as CEO
>05-04-2005Order No.1582 - Redistribution of work/subject
>28-03-2005Order No.1278 - Transfer/Posting of UTCS Officers
>23-03-2005Order No.CF/SAND/3-1/434 - Allotment of coastal sand to the
>various user agencies for the period ending 31.12.2005.
>21-03-2005Order No.1149 - Sanction of loan of Rs.2.60 crores to M/s SPCL,
>Hyderabad
>21-03-2005Order No.1140 - Grant-in-aid amounting to Rs.54.00 lakhs to 10
>Gram Panchayats
>14-03-2005Order No.962 - Designation of Joint Secretary and OSD(IT)-I & II
>08-03-2005Order No.898 - Director Transport will function as
>Spl.Secy-cum-Dir.Transport
>08-03-2005Order No.897- Link Arrangement
>03-03-2005Order No.800- Allocation of subject 'Power' to Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
>03-03-2005Order No.799- Link Arrangement
>03-03-2005Order No.798 - Allocation of subjects
>01-03-2005Order No.781- Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
>deceased-obtaining of an indemnity bond from the beneficiary
>28-02-2005Order No.762 - Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
>deceased by AC Campbell Bay and AC Nancowrie
>23-02-2005Order No.701 - Link arrangements for Special Secretaries/deputy
>secretary
>23-02-2005Order No.694 -State Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the
>implementation of programme relating to the restoration of Agriculture and
>Allied activities in A&N Islands
>23-02-2005Order No.692 - Link Arrangements
>23-02-2005Order No.691 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers of A&N
>Admn.
>19-02-2005Order No.630 - Enhances ex-gratia payment form existing rate of
>Rs.50,000/- to Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased
>19-02-2005Order No.629 - Sanction/disbursement of ex-gratia payment of
>Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased.
>18-02-2005Order No.628 - Posting of Shri. S.N.Jha, DANICS(JAG) as CEO, Zilla
>Parishad, Port Blair
>15-02-2005Order No.576 - Relieving Order of Shri.V.V.Bhat, Chief Secretary,
>A&N Admn.
>07-02-2005Order No.435 - District Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee
>for Rural Development Schemes.
>24-01-2005Order No.259 - Allocation of subject "Information Technology" to
>Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS, A&N Admn.
>24-01-2005Order No.209 - Shri K.S.Singh, Special Secretary(Shipping) shall
>look after the work of Director Finance and Special Secretary(Vigilance)
>23-01-2005Order No.245 - Posting of Shri.A.Anbarasu, IAS as DC & DM, Nicobar
>20-01-2005Order No.201 - Posting of Asst. Secretaries/Ad(Admn) with
>immediate effect.
>10-01-2005Order No.64 - Appointment of Shri.Kailash Chandra as Special
>Secretary to LG & Vigilance
>06-01-2005Order No.37 - Allocation of subjects Power, Panchyati Raj and
>Local Self Government to Shri.Janak Digal, Commr-cum-secy
>06-01-2005Order No.32 - Duty of IT Cadre staff
>06-01-2005Order No.26 - Chief Secretary, Secretaries, Special Secretaries,
>Dy.Secretaries and Asst.Secretaries are empowered to authenticate the orders
>and instruments to be made and executed.
>06-01-2005Order No.25 - Order to sign affidavit and vakalatnama on behalf of
>LG and A&N Administration
>03-01-2005Order No.4542 - Creation of Department of Rehabilitation
>
>
>C/o Kalpavriksh
>Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
>908 Deccan Gymkhana
>Pune - 411004
>Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
>Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...
>
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

MAP News, 162nd Ed., 2 of 2
The Mangrove Action Project News, 162nd Edition, Part 2 of 2


  =================

ANNOUNCEMENT

NEW Water Science Website from the U.S. National Academies

The U.S. National Academies* is pleased to announce the launch of its
Water Information Center, a portal of more than 100 peer-reviewed
reports from the National Academies on water-related issues. The website
( http://water.nationalacademies.org
<http://water.nationalacademies.org/index.shtml?wcat=Q1> ) aims to
assist the work of water scientists, engineers, managers, policy-makers,
and students throughout the world. These reports represent independent
and objective consensus among experts from academia, industry, and other
entities.

The website features the following major topics:

*    Water Supply and Sanitation
*    Water and Soil Remediation
*    Hydrologic Hazards
*    Water Quality in the Natural Environment
*    River Basin Systems Management
*    Environmental Assessment, Management, and Restoration
*    Water Science and Research


All of the reports can be read for free on-line, and summaries are
freely downloadable as PDFs. If you are from a developing country**, the
full reports can be downloaded for FREE. A large number of reports are
also available to free download for residents of other countries.

From: LESrrl3@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Does anyone know of local environmentalist/wildlife experts presently in Port
Blair who'd be able to hold an interactive session with a large group of
children.

Butterflies, a child rights NGO in the islands is organizing a two-days "Andaman
& Nicobar Children's Fiesta" on this 8th & 9th Oct- Sat & Sun.

Would be good to sensitize the children on environmental issues. We're already
going to have a session where 15-20 children would be taking a field walk
through mangroves in Wandoor.

Anyone else up for getting involved?

Sharbendu
Tel: 9332290359

Amlan Dutta <amlan77@...> wrote:

Dear Shubha Laxmi,



There is Dr. Khatri of the JNRM college in Port Blair who has worked on
butterflies, and there is Dr Priya Davidar (Pondicherry University - Reader )

Both have publications on butterflies.



Dr. Davidar's work on butterflies were mostly on the island biogeographical
aspects of the island group.



Then there is CARI (Central Agri. Res. Inst.), Port Blair,



ZSI (Haddo) would also have a resident entomologist.



hope this helps...



Amlan Dutta


---------------------------------
Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.

[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 the Yahoo! Terms of Service.




---------------------------------
Yahoo! for Good
  Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear All,
On the website of the A&N administration at the link given below is a list
of orders issues by the Administration. It would interesting and useful to
know the details of some of these, particularly the latest two.
If you go to the link, however you access to the details of the circulars is
denied. the pop up box says you are not authorised to see this information.
Can anyone please find out
a) Why is access restricted and importantly
b) The details of some of these orders.
Thanks
Pankaj


Circulars / Orders / Notices / Forms / CVC Circulars / Office Memorandum
Orders
http://www.and.nic.in/ordersnew.htm
Office MemorandumDateSubject
28-09-2005Order No.4077 - State Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
28-09-2005Order No.4076 - Island Level Livelihood Task Force Committee
23-09-2005Order No.4036 - Link Arrangements
22-09-2005Order No.4032 - Seventh batch of training programme in NIC
22-09-2005Order No.4028 - Appointment of Shri G C Joshi as Registrar of
Cooperative Societies, A&N Admn.
22-09-2005Order No.4020 - Revised tariff in A&N Administration Government
Guest houses
13-09-2005Order No. 3924 - Link Arrangement
12-09-2005Order No. 3921- Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
Secretary
12-09-2005Order No. 3913 - Redistribution of work
12-09-2005Order No. 3912 - Redistribution of work
12-09-2005Order No. 3911 - Relieving Order of Shri.Naresh Kumar, IAS
08-09-2005Order No.3854 - Appointment of Shri.P.K.Gupta, IAS as
Secretary(Revenue)
31-08-2005Order No.3772 - Work allotment to Smti.Sasikala Viswanathan,
Evaluation Officer
31-08-2005Order No.3763 - Pay of Shri.Basu Kumar, DANICS (JAG)
30-08-2005Order No.3752 - Appointment of Shri.Vikas Anand, IAS as ADM,
Andaman District
30-08-2005Order No.3743 - Change of accommodation to Govt.employees
29-08-2005Order No. 3734 - Appointment of Shri.Nareh Kumar, IAS as Resident
Commissioner, A&N Admn., New Delhi
29-08-2005Order No.3733 - Relieving Order of Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
29-08-2005Order No.3729 - Fifth batch of training in NIC
29-08-2005Order No. 3720 - Tehsil Level Disaster Management Committees
29-08-2005Order No.3719 - Island Level Disaster Management Committees
29-08-2005Order No.3718 - Sub-Division Level Disaster Management Committees
26-08-2005Order No.3712 - Additional work allotment to Shri.Rajendra Kumar,
IAS
26-08-2005Order No.3701 - Forth Batch of training in NIC
24-08-2005Order No.3673 - Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi shall hold the charge of
Secretary(Law)
10-08-2005Order No.3405 - Shri.Anand Kumar Raha, WBHJS, to assign the
additional charge of Secretary (Law).
08-08-2005Order No.3450 - Posting of Shri.Vivek Pandey, IAS as
Asst.Commissioner, Campbell Bay
29-07-2005Order No.3342 - additional charge to Shri. Krishnamoorthy, as
Superintendent, District Jail, Prothrapur
20-07-2005Order No.3171- Designation of Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Deputy Secretary
(PWD) as Joint Secretary (PWD)
20-07-2005Order No.3180-Additional charge to Shri.K.K.Dahiya, Joint
Secretary (PWD)
19-07-2005Order No.3162 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers
13-07-2005Order No.3072 - Transfer/postings amongst the DANICS officers
05-07-2005Transfer/posting of Shri Rajeeva Shukla as AC, Mayabunder
27-06-2005Order No.2783 - Relieve Order of Shri. R.P.Pal, Secretary (Civil
Supplies), A&N Admn.
13-06-2005Order No.2486- Amalgamation of Departments under "Local
Self-Government".
19-05-2005Order No.2185-Designation of Chief Executive Officer, ZP as the
Executive Director of DRDA, Andaman
18-04-2005Order No.1746-Monitoring and updating of websites
15-04-2005Order No.1721-Appointment of Shri.D.S.Negi, IAS as part time CVO,
A&N Admin.
08-04-2005Order No.1652 -Appointment of Shri.N.P.Pillai as Director of
Finance
06-04-2005Order No.1620 - Appointment of Shri. Chetan B.Sanghi, IAS as CEO
05-04-2005Order No.1582 - Redistribution of work/subject
28-03-2005Order No.1278 - Transfer/Posting of UTCS Officers
23-03-2005Order No.CF/SAND/3-1/434 - Allotment of coastal sand to the
various user agencies for the period ending 31.12.2005.
21-03-2005Order No.1149 - Sanction of loan of Rs.2.60 crores to M/s SPCL,
Hyderabad
21-03-2005Order No.1140 - Grant-in-aid amounting to Rs.54.00 lakhs to 10
Gram Panchayats
14-03-2005Order No.962 - Designation of Joint Secretary and OSD(IT)-I & II
08-03-2005Order No.898 - Director Transport will function as
Spl.Secy-cum-Dir.Transport
08-03-2005Order No.897- Link Arrangement
03-03-2005Order No.800- Allocation of subject 'Power' to Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS
03-03-2005Order No.799- Link Arrangement
03-03-2005Order No.798 - Allocation of subjects
01-03-2005Order No.781- Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
deceased-obtaining of an indemnity bond from the beneficiary
28-02-2005Order No.762 - Payment of enhanced Ex-gratia to the kin of
deceased by AC Campbell Bay and AC Nancowrie
23-02-2005Order No.701 - Link arrangements for Special Secretaries/deputy
secretary
23-02-2005Order No.694 -State Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the
implementation of programme relating to the restoration of Agriculture and
Allied activities in A&N Islands
23-02-2005Order No.692 - Link Arrangements
23-02-2005Order No.691 - Redistribution of work amongst the officers of A&N
Admn.
19-02-2005Order No.630 - Enhances ex-gratia payment form existing rate of
Rs.50,000/- to Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased
19-02-2005Order No.629 - Sanction/disbursement of ex-gratia payment of
Rs.1.00 Lakh per deceased.
18-02-2005Order No.628 - Posting of Shri. S.N.Jha, DANICS(JAG) as CEO, Zilla
Parishad, Port Blair
15-02-2005Order No.576 - Relieving Order of Shri.V.V.Bhat, Chief Secretary,
A&N Admn.
07-02-2005Order No.435 - District Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee
for Rural Development Schemes.
24-01-2005Order No.259 - Allocation of subject "Information Technology" to
Shri.P.K.Goel, IAS, A&N Admn.
24-01-2005Order No.209 - Shri K.S.Singh, Special Secretary(Shipping) shall
look after the work of Director Finance and Special Secretary(Vigilance)
23-01-2005Order No.245 - Posting of Shri.A.Anbarasu, IAS as DC & DM, Nicobar
20-01-2005Order No.201 - Posting of Asst. Secretaries/Ad(Admn) with
immediate effect.
10-01-2005Order No.64 - Appointment of Shri.Kailash Chandra as Special
Secretary to LG & Vigilance
06-01-2005Order No.37 - Allocation of subjects Power, Panchyati Raj and
Local Self Government to Shri.Janak Digal, Commr-cum-secy
06-01-2005Order No.32 - Duty of IT Cadre staff
06-01-2005Order No.26 - Chief Secretary, Secretaries, Special Secretaries,
Dy.Secretaries and Asst.Secretaries are empowered to authenticate the orders
and instruments to be made and executed.
06-01-2005Order No.25 - Order to sign affidavit and vakalatnama on behalf of
LG and A&N Administration
03-01-2005Order No.4542 - Creation of Department of Rehabilitation


C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune - 411004
Tel: 020 - 25654239/25675450. Fax; 25654239
Email: pankajs@...; pankaj@...

MAP News, 162nd Ed., 1 of 2Edited to include only info on SE Asia and India--MM



The Mangrove Action Project News, 162nd Edition, Part 1 of 2
Oct. 2, 2005

Dear Friends,

This is the 162nd Edition of the Mangrove Action Project News, brought to your
cyberspace door free of charge since 1998. Please consider supporting MAP's work
today, so we can continue the effort to conserve and restore the mangrove forest
wetlands, while working with the local and indigenous communities to help create
a healthier home for future generations.

Towards Long-Term Planetary Solutions,

Alfredo Quarto,
Mangrove Action Project

Partnering with mangrove forest communities, grassroots NGOs, researchers and
local governments to conserve and restore mangrove forests and related coastal
ecosystems, while promoting community-based, sustainable management of coastal
resources.

---------------------------------------------------

Back Issues available!

Note: The latest issues of the MAP News are available on MAP's Website:  
http://www.earthisland.org/map/map.html


       Contents for MAP NEWS, 162nd Edition

FEATURE STORIES
Hurricane Rita Far More Dangerous Without Wetlands
UN ecology chiefs calls on World Summit to put environment front and centre

MAP WORKS
"Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration Training Workshop, Florida
MAP Now Preparing For Nov. 7-12 Ecological Rstoration Workshop in India
Please Order Your Children's Mangrove Art Calendars for 2006!!!

ASIA

S.E. ASIA

Indonesia
In wake of the tsunami, fields yield bumper crops
Indonesia: Women's Group Helping to Restore Mangroves in Sulawesi

Vietnam
Vietnamese fisheries association supports Hurricane Katrina's victims
Vietnam's seafood exports rise 14.5%
Typhoon wreaks havoc on coastal localities

S. ASIA

India
Traditional fishermen around India's Chilka lake protest
Sundarbans in Peril

-------------------------------------------------
   MAP Now Preparing For Nov. 7-12 Ecological Rstoration Workshop in India

Many groups in India have approached MAP following the tsunami requesting
information and support to restore mangroves.  The vital role of mangroves to
reduce the powerful energy of a tsunami by acting as a natural green break wall
was clearly demonstrated on Dec.26.   It's already well understood how a thick
healthy mangrove greenbelt can play the same buffering function against
cyclones, typhoons, and tropical storms.

After much consultation and discussion, it was decided the best way for MAP to
help groups in India is to hold a workshop there on the hydrological method of
mangrove restoration for about 20 NGO representatives.  The participants will be
mainly from Indian NGOs located on the Coromandel coast region who are part of
MAP's international network, but MAP will also bring two participants from the
Small Fishers Federation in Sri Lanka and three persons from the Mangrove
Service Network (MSN) in Myanmar for this special opportunity.

This will be a training of the trainers (TOT) workshop, with small-scale model
mangrove restoration projects occurring after the workshop as part of the local
follow-up workshops.   This training in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, Nov.7-12
will take place in partnership with the local NGO Coastal Community Development
Programme (CCDP) based in Machilipatnam, Krishna District. CCDP has been
involved in mangrove planting projects for about four years and the planned
workshop will utilize their mangrove restoration sites for part of the workshop
field training.

"MAP / S.E. Asia" <mapasia@...>

=========================================

MAP's Children's Mangrove Art Calendars for 2006 Now Available!!!

MAP's new Children's Mangrove Art 2005 Calendars are now available. In addition
to these beautiful calendars, we are selling packets of 5 beautiful greeting
cards containing several mangrove images from Monica Gutierrez-Quarto's artwork.
to raise funds for MAP.

We are now requesting your help in selling both the calendars and card sets for
MAP. If interested, please let us know how many calendars and card sets you will
need.

Note: The following costs are based upon the numbers of calendars ordered:

The Calendars
1-49 Calendars @ $12 per calendar including postage in the US, $14 for outside
the US
50-99 @ $10 per calendar including postage $12 outside the US
100 or more at $8 per calendar including postage, $10 outside the US

The Card Sets
Each packet of 5 cards is being sold by MAP for $10. including postage.

The calendars and card sets are beautiful items, and will make wonderful gifts
for friends and family, as well as provide needed funding support for MAP at
this critical time! Any donation of $35 or more qualifies the donor for an
annual membership with a free calendar or card set! Please give generously
today!

PLEASE help MAP stay in this fight for the future by becoming a donating
subscriber today! Check our website for details (www.earthisland.org/map) or
contact: <mailto: mangroveap@...>mangroveap@...

==============================

S.E. ASIA

Indonesia

In wake of the tsunami, fields yield bumper crops

Monday, September 26, 2005
By CHRIS BRUMMITT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEULABOH, Indonesia -- From atop the coconut tree where he fled to escape the
onrushing water, Muhammad Yacob watched the tsunami turn his rice paddy into a
briny, debris-strewn swamp.

Nine months later, Yacob and his wife are harvesting their best-ever crop --
despite fears that salt water had poisoned the land.

"The sea water turned out to be a great fertilizer," said Yacob, 66, during a
break from scything the green shoots and laying them in bunches on the stubble.
"We are looking at yields twice as high as last year."

Rice, the region's staple food, is not the only crop thriving on
tsunami-affected land in Indonesia's Aceh province, which suffered the worst
damage and loss of life in the disaster Dec. 26.

Farmers say vegetables, peanuts and fruit are growing well, spurring hopes that
agriculture in the still-devastated region will recover faster than expected.

But bumper harvests for some mask a very precarious future for most farmers in
areas where a massive offshore earthquake caused the sea to crash ashore,
experts say.

According to U.N. surveys, 81 percent of the 116,000 acres of agricultural land
damaged by tsunami waves in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Thailand
is again cultivable.

But experts say much fertile land remains under water or sand churned up from
the ocean floor. Waves and mud have destroyed or clogged countless drainage
systems. So many villagers died that there is a shortage of labor to clear the
land and replant.

Yacob says he has received no tsunami aid from the government and sighs as he
points to a mangled threshing machine, rusting where it was tossed by the
tsunami waves.

Besides his rice crop, the father of eight lost 1,000 cocoa plants in the
tsunami and has no money for seedlings.

Recovery in the worst-hit areas may take three to five years, said Bart
Dominicus of the U.N. tsunami-response program.

The largest earthquake in 40 years sent 60-foot waves crashing into coastal
communities in Aceh and more than five miles inland. Of the 178,000 who died in
the 11 tsunami-hit countries on the Indian Ocean rim, 130,000 victims were in
Aceh province.

Nearly 50,000 acres of Aceh farmland were damaged, the local government
estimates.

In the weeks after, many scientists warned it would take years until crops could
be planted, noting that fields flooded with salt water usually become unsuitable
for most types of cultivation.

"When I first got here, there were preliminary figures booted about that half of
the land would be lost," said Helen Bradbury, an agriculturalist with Mercy
Corps, a U.S.-based charity. "But I wasn't so sure, and neither were the
farmers."

In at least some cases, their hunch proved correct.

Fields of lush, green rice now dot the coast, and surveys by the U.N. agency
paint a more optimistic picture.

Researchers say high rainfall in most Indian Ocean countries washed out the salt
quicker than expected. Higher yields in some plots are explained by rich topsoil
and the composting effect of other organic matter dumped by the tsunami.

"I am not sure the effect will last long, but for now, it is a sort of tsunami
bonus," Bradbury said.

The rice harvest is helping to restore some of the pre-tsunami rhythms of life
to the countryside, where men such as Yacob have farmed for 30 years and more.
But it is still littered with damaged buildings and tent camps housing tens of
thousands of survivors.

The United Nations' World Food Program says it still expects to be feeding
around 750,000 tsunami victims well into next year.

And life remains tough even for farmers with fields full of crops.

Sur Salami has never grown corn higher -- his plants stand 2 feet taller than he
is. But when heavy rain coincides with a high tide, around half of his 5
1/2-acre plot floods. He says it never did before and blames the tsunami for
changing the coastline. "But we cannot lose hope. Whom can I complain to,
anyhow?"

<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/242216_indonesia26.html>http://seattlepi\
.nwsource.com/national/242216_indonesia26.html

© 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

From: "Elaine Corets" <manglar@...>

========================================================

Indonesia: Women's Group Helping to Restore Mangroves in Sulawesi

by Jessica Sherman, Greengrants Intern                   February 15, 2005
Women in an Indonesian coastal community are learning how to protect mangroves,
restore local fisheries and find economic alternatives to ecosystem destruction.
Creative approaches such as this promise to help halt cycles of poverty and
habitat loss that afflict coastal communities around the world. __Imagine you
are a poor widow living in coastal Indonesia. You have three children to support
and only the most basic education. You live in an area forested with
mangroves-as much of Indonesia's coast used to be-and you can collect the wood
freely to sell for cash. Despite your vague awareness of the harm you are
causing, you see no choice but to continue until the forest runs out. __Mangrove
destruction is a growing concern in Indonesia, and it is a focus of the Women's
Union for Equality (Persatuan Perempuan Sama or PPS), a grassroots organization
working to help coastal women find alternatives to cycles of resource depletion
and deepening poverty. Loss of mangroves destroys nursery grounds for local
fisheries and makes coastal communities far more vulnerable to storms. __Women
in Indonesia, as in other developing countries, are disproportionately affected
by poverty. They often lack access to services, such as family planning, that
could greatly contribute to their quality of life. Violence against women is a
continuing problem in Indonesia, as is persistent social, political and economic
discrimination. Women are excluded from decision-making positions, holding only
eight percent of Indonesia's parliamentary seats. __While women in Indonesia
tend to be the resource managers for their families and communities, they have
less access than men to sources of technical help. In response to this problem,
PPS has developed programs to help poor women who harvest wood in mangrove
forests to make a more sustainable living. In southeast Sulawesi, PPS created an
initiative in 2003 to help expand women's choices through training in
alternative livelihoods. __Wangkolabu Village on Tobea Island, Muna-where the
project is taking place-used to be surrounded by an extensive mangrove forest of
more than 500 hectares. Indeed, the village was originally named after a type of
mangrove tree. Today, the forest has been reduced to a highly degraded 150
hectares due to exploitation for local housing materials and the fuel wood
trade. Fishing has traditionally been the primary source of livelihood here, but
in recent years people have had to engage in other income generating activities,
such as the sale of fuel wood, to make ends meet. This feeds a vicious cycle,
since loss of mangroves causes further harm to local fisheries, which depend on
mangrove habitat for spawning and nursery grounds. __With the help of a $1,000
grant from Greengrants, PPS was able to develop a program designed to halt this
cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. Aimed at helping women initiate
income-generating projects, PPS conducted a four-day participatory workshop in
which twenty women learned about the ecological importance of the mangrove and
were trained in alternative livelihood practices, enabling them to leave the
fuel wood trade. __PPS recruited participants for this workshop from the ranks
of Wangkolabu's poorest inhabitants for whom cutting mangroves had become an
economic necessity. Of the ninety-one families in Wangkolabu, nearly half are
headed by single mothers. These women struggle to provide for their families in
a society that devalues women's work, and more than half of these households
depend on the sale of mangrove trees for fuel wood. __This group of women, with
the aid of PPS facilitation, set a goal of increasing fish habitat in the
village through mangrove restoration and reduced fuel wood cutting. They decided
also to work toward a ban on the fuel wood trade. PPS was able to return for a
follow-up workshop in 2004 in which some of the women were trained in organic
vegetable farming, while others were trained in business planning, bookkeeping
and entrepreneurship with the goal of selling their colleagues' products and
other items. As of April 2004, the women were already reaping the benefits of
their new enterprises, successfully managing their businesses without having to
return to the fuel wood trade. __PPS has set up revolving micro-loan funds for
the women (around $20 per woman) that allow them to have access to capital in
the beginning stages of their business projects. These loans are projected to
extend through April 2005. PPS maintains a relationship with another
organization, the Rural Institution for Women's Empowerment, which will follow
up with ongoing support and further training. PPS hopes to return to Wangkolabu
in 2005 to set up a wood garden for non-mangrove fuel wood harvesting and to
introduce energy-saving charcoal stoves, with the aim of further reducing the
unsustainable use of mangrove forests. __A previous Greengrants grant to PPS
also brought creative approaches to mangrove restoration, this time with women's
groups in Kuala Sungai Pinang on Penang island. The project laid the
groundwork-literally-for ecosystem restoration through construction of what are
known as "empang parit." These dredged coastal ponds are planted with mangroves
and designed to create attractive nursery habitat that can replenish local
fisheries and can be harvested directly for shrimp and other species.
Participants have planted more than 5,000 mangrove saplings so far, and local
women's groups are working to expand the project. Thanks to the success of this
project, PPS received a grant from the Indonesian government to continue the
work on Muna. __The goal of PPS is to ensure equal participation of women, a
greater role in natural resource management, and an end to the "feminization" of
poverty. As women increase their leadership in resource management and take
better control of their economic choices, PPS hopes that the cycle of
environmental degradation and poverty can be broken.

From: "Francesca Mohan" <fmohan@...>

=================================

========================================================

Typhoon wreaks havoc on coastal localities
    09/27/2005 -- 18:23(GMT+7)
Ha Noi (VNA) - Typhoon Damrey made landfall in Viet Nam on September 27, causing
serious losses to northern and central coastal localities.

Damrey, the most powerful  typhoon to hit northern Viet Nam in a decade, has
damaged numerous segments of dykes in the Red River delta of Nam Dinh and its
neighbouring province of Ninh Binh. In Ninh Binh, the typhoon destroyed 18,800
ha of rice and 2,265 ha of subsidiary food crops, blew roofs off 1,000 houses
and pulled down trees and electrical lines.

In Cat Hai and Do Son districts of the northern port city of Hai Phong, waves
overflowed various segments of dykes, damaging many aquaculture farms, and rice
and subsidiary food crop areas.

By early this morning, more than 51,000 people in Hai Phong's coastal districts
were evacuated. Troops, minutemen and vanguards are being mobilised to reinforce
sea dykes and be ready for any problems caused by the typhoon.

The typhoon slammed ashore in the central province of Ha Tinh at 4 a.m.,
knocking down power lines and leaving tens of hectares of rice submersed by
salt-water.-Enditem

From: icsf@...

==================================

S. ASIA

India

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=9&id=116831&usrsess=1

Traditional fishermen around India's Chilka lake protest

Traditional fishermen living in and around Chilka, Orissa, India, today
threatened to take law into their own hands and demolish the prawn "gheries"
(bamboo prawn cultivation structures) in the lake themselves if the district
administration do not take action in this regard within a fortnight.

Talking to reporters, leaders of Chilka Matsyajibi Mahasangh, Harijan Matsyajibi
Mahasangh, Paramparika Matsyajibi Mahasangh and Purbanchala Matsyajibi Mahasangh
president alleged that the mushrooming of illegal prawn gheries in Chilka had
posed a serious threat to the fragile ecosystem. This had also jeopardised the
livelihood of the traditional fishermen.

In this context, Chilka Matsyajibi Mahasangh and other fishermen's bodies have
been demanding the imposition of a ban on prawn cultivation in Chilka lake and
demolition of illegal prawn gheries in order to protect the ecosystem of the
lake.

"The State government has not yet taken sincere steps to make the Chilka lake
free from gheries despite our sustained agitation, direction from the Supreme
Court, High Court and the House Committee of the Assembly," alleged the
fishermen leaders.

"Even the order of the chief minister and his assurance to a delegation of
fishermen in this regard has not been carried out," they lamented.

Alleging that the district administration were dilly-dallying on the plea of
lack of adequate police forces, the fishermen leaders threatened that they would
take the law into their own hands and demolish the prawn gheries if these were
not removed within a fortnight.

Source:
<http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=9&id=116831&usrsess=1>Statesm\
an News Service

From: icsf@...

====================================

Sundarbans in Peril

Recently the Government of West Bengal, India has started a number of projects
in the Sundarbans that extend over the districts of 24 Parganas (South) and 24
Parganas (North) of the state of West Bengal, India. The eco-tourism project
throughout the vast region of the Sundarbans by the Sahara India Pariwar and the
Hukaharania project in the Kultali block of 24 Parganas (South) are such
examples.


The Sahara India Pariwar proposes to create a world-class tourism project in the
Sundarbans region comprising hotels, floatels, dance bars, casino etc., worth
over Rs. 700 crores (about US$155 million) and spread over 303.5 hectares of
land on a number of islands, including Sagar, L-plot, Kaikhali, Fraserganj, and
Jharkhali. The Hukaharania project is going to be implemented by building up two
obstructions on the natural
tidal flow of the river for the creation of a sweet water reserve
likely to be used for fishery and cultivation. The latter is funded by the Asian
Development Bank and is planned and supervised by the Sundarbans Development
Board, a body appointed by the WB government.

  The Sundarbans in India have a total area of 9630 sq. km. including a reserve
forest cover of 4260 sq. km., spread over 110 deltaic islands of which 54 have
been reclaimed by human population in earlier periods and rest 56 are marked for
reserved forests including the tiger reserve. The area is located between
latitude 21?30?N and 22?15?N and longitude 88?40?E and 89?10?E. The fauna and
flora of the uninhabited forest area
and those of the inhabited islands are parts of a unique ecosystem
created by the admixture of land and forest, and a water body comprising the
upland sweet water and the saline tidal water of the Bay of Bengal. The river
Hooghly bounds the Sundarbans to the west, Ichamati-Kalindi-Raimangal-
Haribhanga to the east, the Dampier-Hodges line to the north and the Bay of
Bengal to the south. The Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh as a whole feature
the largest mangrove forest in the world extending in a geographical area having
a criss-cross pattern of innumerable
rivers of different sizes and their distributaries that are inundated twice a
day by tidal water.

The brackish water in the deltaic system and this unique estuarine environment
with the mangrove forest have become one of the richest biodiversity zones in
the world having at least 84 plant species of halophytes and 1586 species of
marine and aquatic animal species including deer of various species, wild boar,
crocodile, violinist crab, olive ridley turtles, tiger prawn, etc. and above all
the famous Bengal tiger. That is why the International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN) has described it as the Sudarbans Biosphere Reserve in 1989.
The growing awareness and environment movement throughout the world have played
an important role in this direction. The United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have also inducted it in the World Heritage
List in 1987. Moreover, it is\ recognized as one of 21 most pollution-free
zones. The mangals of the Sundarbans
acts as the lungs of the thickly populated city of Kolkata and the vast suburbs
around and attract rain over a large area of the southern par of West Bengal. In
short, the Sundarbans have a highly dynamic and complex ecosystem comprising
land, water and forest with thousands of plant and animal species. It is an
ecologically sensitive area due to human intervention in various forms.

In the earlier decades, the mangals were indiscriminately cut and
denuded; the rivers, creeks and channels were closed or diverted to reclaim land
for human habitation or cultivation. Large river beds and mudflats were used for
the cultivation of fish especially tiger prawns to draw high profits. Next came
the establishment of innumerable brick-kilns. Sometimes creeks or even rivers
were blocked by bunds or sluice gates for the purpose of making sweet water
reserves to be used for fishery and irrigation. However, the example of Piyali
dam on the river Piyali (a distributory of the river Matla) showed the futility
of such projects and it has produced a lot of environmental problems in the
area. Above all, man has reclaimed a large part of the Sundarbans much before it
turned into mature landmasses.

In the past couple of decades, the awareness about the vulnerability of the
ecosystem of the Sundarbans has increased, and many scientific studies on
various environmental parameters that preserve and maintain equilibrium have
been reported. The observed negative results of various projects have led all
concerned to think twice before taking up a new project in the area. In
addition, the Sundarbans deltaic system has
undergone a geo-tectonic movement due to which western part is suffering a tilt
with respect to the eastern part. It is possibly the reason behind the
diminishing supply of sweet water to the rivers of the Sundarbans including the
river Hooghly.

The criss-cross river pattern that allows flow of water through
various channels is the natural formation to absorb the large pressure of tidal
variation and evacuation of river water into the sea. The law of Nature alone
guides the existence of each river - big and small, and each one has its
specific role. The obstruction of the natural flow of even a relatively small
river connecting two large tidal ones disturbs the balance, and is bound to tell
upon the nearby areas in various ways like causing erosion, siltation and
inundation by tidal water, water logging during the rain etc. In such a system,
even a small change on the course of Nature has the potential to cause a major
change over a large area.

  The importance of mangroves, the role of rivers and the biosphere
considered as a whole have been taken into account by the Government of India
through enacting various acts like Water (Prevention and Control Pollution) Act,
1974; The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)
Notification, 1991 etc.

Keeping all this in view, we have to consider the so-called
Hukaharania Project taken up by the Sundarbans Development Board. The river
Hukaharania is a channel that connects the river Thakuran in the west and the
river Makri in the east. All are tidal rivers in the Sunderbans observe
differences of a few meters in the water levels at high and low tides. Thakuran
is a large river while Makri (local name) is a distributory of the river Matla.
There is a large delta with human habitation of about 20 km north-south stretch
with a population of about 40,000. There were at least 6 other channels that had
connected the Thakuran and the
Makri in the earlier periods. They have now ceased to exist as rivers as they
were blocked at the two ends long ago to convert their beds into agricultural
land, fisheries or water bodies. The relatively larger rivers like Petkulchand
and Hukaharania had been spared due to regular flow of water. An important road
about 70 km long situated in the Kultali development block from Herobhanga to
Kishorimohanpur crosses the river at Hukaharania Hat (market) near the Makri
end. There was a wooden
bridge on concrete pillars without causing obstruction to the natural flow of
the river. Now the bridge has been replaced by an earthen bund and the other end
near the Thakuran is also blocked by such a bund.

   The following points are to be considered now apart from the above:

   1. The Hukaharania in particular serves as a transport channel
throughout the year used by the common people to reach schools and hospital
within a short time. The fishermen use the channel to reach the important
marketplaces like Dhaki or Raidighi to sell their catch. The obstruction is only
to cause inconvenience to thousands of people, as there is no other better
transport.

   2. Though the purpose of the project is ostensibly to supply sweet water for
cultivation as well as for fishery, the blockade of the natural passage of water
is bound to leave the stretch of land on both the sides of the river including
hundreds of acres of arable land inundated by water in the rainy season. This
has already happened during the current rainy season.

   3. As it touches the nearby reserved forest, such a project is very
likely to produce an impact detrimental to the biosphere reserve. It may
accelerate the process of extinction of many plants and animal species, which
occupy specific ecological niches specific to the area.

   4. There is large-scale felling of mangroves on the banks, the
leftover roots of which are still prominently visible. This will only cause a
great disturbance to the natural environment.

   5. Conducting the "Environment Impact Assessment" (EIA) is a must before
taking up a project of this sort under the provision of the Environment
(Protection) Act. This has squarely been ignored.

   6. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, of the Government of
India, has declared all stretches enjoying regular tidal inundation as
protected, and all activities herein subject to regulation, under the Coastal
Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification. This lists all mangroves as `ecologically
sensitive' areas under CRZ-I, which prohibits new construction within 500 metres
of the High Tide Line.

   As the voice of protests on behalf of the people of the locality and around
rose to the occasion, the renowned engineers and scientists including a number
of former officials of highest stature of the Irrigation and Waterways
Directorate, Government of West Bengal visited the site in February 2005 and
expressed their concern about a possible irreparable environmental damage. A
convention was called in the month of April where experts of related disciplines
of knowledge again confirmed in
presence of thousands aggrieved public the possibility of a disaster if such a
project were implemented.

   At same time, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by the
'South Sundarnan Matsajibi and Matsa Karmachari Union' at the Hon'ble Calcutta
High Court praying rejection of the project entirely, and restoration of the
river to her original position. Though the Green Bench of the Hon'ble High Court
imposed an injunction in early this year, it was vacated a few days later. After
that an appeal was made to the Hon'ble Supreme Court for consideration, which
has resulted in a stay order and imposition of status quo on 8 August 2005.

   We appeal to all concerned including environmentalists, geologists,
technologists, engineers, river specialists, meteorologists, biologists, and
social activists to rise in protest to such a myopic project guided by the
motive of immediate profit by a small group out of a public property and also
with a far-reaching irreversible consequence to one of the most ecologically
sensitive zones in world, i.e. the Sundarbans. The fishermens' organization
'South Sundarnan Matsajibi and Matsa Karmachari Union' is finding it difficult
to bear the astronomical expenses of
fighting the case in the Supreme Court. So we also solicit your monetary help to
the best of your ability to help them continue the legal fight along with
building up peoples' movements.

From: BanglaPraxis banglapraxis@...


--
Alfredo Quarto, Executive Director
Mangrove Action Project
PO Box 1854
Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279
USA
phone/ fax (360) 452-5866
<mangroveap@...>
mailto:mangroveap@...
web site: http://www.earthisland.org/map/map.html

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Shubha Laxmi,



There is Dr. Khatri of the JNRM college in Port Blair who has worked on
butterflies, and there is Dr Priya Davidar (Pondicherry University - Reader )

Both have publications on butterflies.



Dr. Davidar's work on butterflies were mostly on the island biogeographical
aspects of the island group.



Then there is CARI (Central Agri. Res. Inst.), Port Blair,



ZSI (Haddo) would also have a resident entomologist.



hope this helps...



Amlan Dutta


---------------------------------
  Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Friends,

I am an entomologist and it is first time I am writing on this egroup. My field
of interest in insects has been moths. I would like to know if someone on this
egroup shares my passion specially someone who is working in A & D Isl. It
would be great if pictures of insects from these beautiful islands. I will help
in identification. This is my inexpensive way of meeting the insects from A& D,
Can some one help?

Cheers
Shubha
************
Dr. V.Shubhalaxmi
Educatio Officer
BNHS, Mumbai.

From The Hindu - Oct. 2, 2005

Island birds
S. THEODORE BASKARAN
The Andaman and Nicobar islands are the proverbial paradise for
birdwatchers.
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/10/02/stories/2005100200390400.htm
PHOTOS: SIDHARTH RAO

IN his book Song of the Dodo, biologist David Quammen talks about how
geographical isolation triggers speciation. The dodo of Mauritius is the
best example of this development. With no predator to worry about, the dodo
flourished for millennia in the Indian Ocean island till man landed there in
the 18th Century.
However Quammen points out that geographical isolation does not always
result in appearance of a new species. But when new species evolve, they do
so only in isolation. Of all the life forms it is the bird species that
reflect this feature. It was the finches of Galapagos Island that led Darwin
to his theory of evolution. This was brought home to us dramatically when we
spent a few hours in the Andaman-Nicobar archipelago recently.
Primeval splendour
Havelock Island is about two hours by boat from Port Blair. Surrounded by
emerald lagoons, much of the mountainous island is covered with tropical
evergreen forests. In some stretches, mangrove swamps line the shores. It
was a landscape of primeval splendour.
On the first day, wading in the lagoon, I saw two birds on a mangrove tree.
One look and I knew it was a "lifer" for me - a bird species you see for the
first time in your life. They were white-headed mynas. Within minutes, a
woodpecker with a white-barred black mantle and red crown landed on the same
tree. Another "lifer" - the fulvous-breasted woodpecker. Both birds are
exclusive to the Andamans.


The 324 islands of the Andaman-Nicobar archipelago are the tops of the
submerged mountain chain, a continuation of the Arakan Yomas of Myanmar. But
they have been separated long enough from the mainland to develop avifauna
of their own. The islands are home to about 242 birds of which 39 are unique
to the islands. Ornithologists describe them as endemic, birds that have
evolved into distinctive species because of the insularity of their
habitats. Soon we saw more endemic species like the olive-backed sunbird and
Andaman swallow. These islands are a birdwatcher's paradise.
After the 1857 rising, the British government turned its attention to
Andaman Islands to explore the possibility of setting up a penal colony.
Soon a few amateur ornithologists from the civil services visited the
islands and collected specimens.
One such was A.O. Hume, the founder of the Indian National Congress. Based
on his collections, he wrote a series of articles between 1874 and 1876 in
Stray Feathers, a journal of natural history. At least one bird in the
islands is named after Hume - the white collared kingfisher (Todiramphus
chloris humii), easily spotted in the jetty area of Port Blair. Hume was
also the first to get a specimen of the Narcondam hornbill, another endemic
bird. The entire population of 300 hornbills is confined to a single
forested island, Narcondam. Another endemic bird easily spotted in Port
Blair is the Andaman crow pheasant.


After taxonomist Humayun Abdulali of the Bombay Natural History Society
carried out a series of surverys in the 1980s and published his
observations, ornithologists realised the unrivalled nature of the birds in
the islands. The megapode, which has come to symbolise the endemic birds of
Andamans, inhabits the Nicobar Islands. Another distinct bird is the Nicobar
pigeon with its metallic green hackles and sheen on its plumage.
Sighting the shama
For the last three days of our holiday, we stayed in the cottages of the
Andaman Nicobar Ecology Team (ANET) in a forest in Wandoor. Every morning at
daybreak we would hear hauntingly long-drawn fluid birdcalls. Peeping out,
we could see the shama singing and pirouetting in a bamboo clump. The
plumage was a little different from the shama in the mainland.


A quick look at the book revealed that this was indeed a sub-species
exclusive to the Andamans - the white-rumped shama (cpyschus malabricus
albiventris). Arguably the best songbird, the shama is a forest dweller and
difficult to spot. For a birder, the sight of this bird announcing the
arrival of a new day is a consummation devoutly to be wished for.
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