The Buffer Zone around Jarawa Reserve and the Andaman Trunk Road: To be or not to be
Report of the Hon’ble Supreme Court appointed Commissioner by an Order dated 3.02.2012 in Lt Governor versus Barefoot India
(SLP (C) 12125 of 2010)
Submitted by
Sanjay Upadhyay
Advocate Commissioner
April 4, 2012
Acknowledgement
At the outset, I am humbled by the fact that this Hon’ble Court has bestowed the confidence in me to give an unbiased opinion on the findings through a field based visit as well as my own understanding of the contentious and a very delicate matter regarding one of the last remaining hunter and gatherers tribe of the Andaman Islands-the Jarawas. So my deepest and heartfelt thanks to the Hon’ble Supreme Court for this honor.
My sincerest thanks to the Andaman Administration especially the Chief Secretary Shri Shakti Sinha, the Secretary , Tribal Affairs, Shri Ajay Saxena as well as Shri Som Naydu, Director, Tribal Welfare and specially the members of the AAJVS and the IG Police Shri Sanjay Beniwal for their warm facilitation and hospitality.
I also want to thank my colleagues Tushar Thareja and Shyama Kuriakose, Advocates for helping me in preparing several synopsis of the secondary material that has been referred to.
Further, I also want to put on record that a common report by the two Commissioners was to be filed but due to some communication gap, it is being done separately. I sincerely hope such omission will only add value to the independent thinking and views of the Commissioners and would help the process of arriving at a fair judgment rather than an impediment of any nature. I wish to acknowledge the guidance of my colleague Commissioner, Senior Advocate T.S. Doabia with whom I shared a very cordial relationship and learnt a lot. My sincere thanks to him.
Last but not the least a big heartfelt thanks to the people of Andaman Islands especially who came in large numbers to the Public Hearing at Port Blair and also when I visited the islands of Baratang, Strait,
Let justice prevail as always!
Thanks you and Regards,
Sanjay Upadhyay
Advocate Supreme Court
Table of Contents
1. Back Ground and rationale: the Contentious Buffer Zone Notification ............................... 5
2. The Unique Context of Andaman and Nicobar Islands ........................................................ 9
3. A Historical Analysis of the Relationship between Aboriginal Population and Settlers- Past
and Present Conflicts ............................................................................................................... 10
4. Protection for the Jarawa Within The Reserve.................................................................... 12
4.1. Commerce and Tourism activity in the region ............................................................. 13
4.2. Establishment of Settlements in the vicinity in Jarawa territory .................................. 13
4.3. Diseases contracted through outside contacts .............................................................. 13
4.4. Impact of natural disasters such as Earthquakes and Tsunamis ................................... 14
5. The Environmental Perspective in Protecting Jarawa And The Islands from Exploitation 15
5.1. In light of the natural disasters such as Tsunami and Earthquakes .............................. 15
5.2. In light of the timber logging, illegal poaching of natural resources and sand mining 16
5.3. In light of the intrinsic relations between Jarawa and their land .................................. 16
6. Administrative and Judicial Measures taken with respect to the Jarawa ............................ 18
6.1. Conception of the Andaman Trunk Road and its Results ............................................ 18
6.2. Efforts in Master Plan (1991-2021) .............................................................................. 19
6.3. Creation of Buffer Zone ............................................................................................... 19
6.4. Writ Petition of May 1999 in the Calcutta High Court ................................................ 20
6.4.1. Notification on Jarawa reserve .............................................................................. 22
6.4.2. Importance of the Jarawa Policy for the protection of this marginalized
community ........................................................................................................................ 22
6.4.3. Review of Existing Jarawa Policy .......................................................................... 22
6.5. Implications of Prof. Shekhar Singh Commission Report ........................................... 23
6.6. Importance of the Tourism Policy in the context of interests of the Jarawa ................ 24
6.7. Island Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2011 and its Impact on Tourism .......... 24
7. The Various Stakeholders’ Narrative on Jarawa ................................................................. 26
7.1. Impact of the Buffer Zone notification on various stakeholders .................................. 26
7.2. Impact of the closure of Andaman Trunk Road ........................................................... 27
7.3. Some Observations from the Field Interactions ........................................................... 27
8. Findings and Recommendations ......................................................................................... 32
Annexure 1 .............................................................................................................................. 37
Responses from Stakeholders in the Buffer Zone notification issue ...................................... 37
References ............................................................................................................................... 42
The Buffer Zone around Jarawa Reserve and the Andaman Trunk Road: To be or not to be
1. Back Ground and rationale: the Contentious Buffer Zone Notification
In 2007, a buffer zone Notification1 was issued by the Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI), the Administrator, according to the power conferred under the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes), Regulation, 1956 (PAT Regulation) declaring five kms radius around the Jarawa Reserve Notified Area from the boundary line starting from Constance Bay in South Andaman to Lewis Inlet Bay in the Middle Andaman as a “Buffer Zone”. The said notification issued in 2007 directed that any person other than the member of an aboriginal tribe is prohibited from entering the “Buffer Zone” for any commercial /and or tourism activities. The said notification regarding the buffer zone and a subsequent Notice issued by the Tehsildar under the said notification was challenged before the High Court of Calcutta, Circuit Bench at Port Blair which was quashed by the Single Judge.2 It was stated in this order that:
“Even the definition of the expression ‘reserved area’ does not appear to have extended any jurisdiction to the Lieutenant Governor to declare any area as a “buffer zone”. In that view of the matter, the notification under challenge is quashed. The order dated 6.11.2007 passed by the Tehsildar, Ferrargunj tehsil, a copy whereof is annexed as annexure P-3 to the writ petition which is based on the notification dated 30.11.2007 is quashed”.
An appeal against the judgment and order of the Single Judge was preferred before the Division Bench of the High Court at Calcutta, Circuit Bench at Port Blair which dismissed the appeal filed against quashing of the notification of 2007 issued by the Lt. Governor. The judgment and the order of the Division Bench of the High Court at Calcutta were challenged by the ANI Administration by way of an SLP before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. There were various contentions raised by the Administration in challenging such Order of the High Court which are mainly as follows:
a. That the buffer zone notification was issued after much deliberation as a result of the observations by the High Court in 20016 in which the High Court directed this Administration to take implement steps that safeguard safety, welfare, honour and existence of Jarawa Tribe.
b. That the concept of buffer zone for Jarawa Reserve also finds mention in the Master Plan for Welfare of the Tribes of the ANI for the period 1991-2021.
c. That the notification is a result of interactions with Jarawas, NGOs and other subject matter experts.
Arguments of the Respondents among other things:
a. That the Lt. Governor of ANI does not have the authority to declare the
notification regarding the “Buffer Zone” as per the PAT Regulations 1956.
b. That the order of the High Court in WP No. 48 of 1999 dated 9.04.2001 does not highlight the need of a “Buffer Zone”.
c. That there is selective enforcement of the notification where the respondents have been ordered to shut down and the other commercial and tourist related activities are still going on.
Following the above arguments, this Hon’ble Court directed the petitioner to ensure that the Administration has implemented the Notification with respect to closure of all establishments, commercial and semi- commercial and submit a report by way of an affidavit.7 The petitioner accordingly filed an affidavit8 to confirm that two bars and one wine shop have been closed in Baratang and Kadamtala of Middle Andaman in the Buffer Zone in 2010. Moreover notices for closure were also issued to Resorts still existing in the Buffer Zone. It was however mentioned that small eateries, dhabas, general stores, cloth shops etc operating in the market places of existing villages in the Buffer Zone need not be closed since the Reserved Area does not have any other commercial establishment.
The respondents filed another affidavit9 with the contention that there are still commercial and semi commercial activities in operation in the villages which fall within the five kms radius of the Jarawa Reserve and are part of the buffer zone notification issued by the ANI Authority. In acknowledgement of this, this Hon’ble Court issued an Order10 stating that the petitioners have so far not taken steps to implement the notification relating to buffer zone.
In the affidavit11 filed by the Petitioner in response to the above Order, the following key points were brought up:
• The prohibition on “commercial” and “tourist” activities in the buffer zone, as contained in the notification, must not be interpreted to cause prejudice to the livelihood and subsistence of the settlers. These villages have mostly agricultural land with normal cloth, tea stalls, sweet shops etc. These shops cater primarily to the local villages.
• The petitioner also submitted that the prohibition contained in the buffer zone is intended to apply to the commercial establishments for tourist purpose only.
• It was further mentioned that a proposal for amendments to the PAT Regulation, 1956 has been sent to the Union Home Ministry, in July 2010. Under the proposed amendments, the term “buffer zone” is sought to be specifically defined as being an area adjacent to the reserve area notified under Section 3(1) of the regulation. The proposed amendments also seeks to clarify the meaning of “commercial activities” by clearly specifying that this term refers to resort, hotels, restaurants, bars and paying guest accommodations (except Government run Guest Houses)
• The petitioners categorically stated that there is no bar functioning within Buffer Zone. Furthermore, the Learned Additional Solicitor General stated that12 all the liquor licenses have been cancelled and no new license will be given in the buffer zone. She also stated that certain resorts such as Dew Dale Resort and S.K.M .Golden Beach Resort have been issued closure notices and Xalxo Beach Resort is out of the buffer zone.
Affidavit filed by the respondent13 alleged that the petitioner is not implementing the notification uniformly. In fact, in the affidavit under reply, the Petitioner is interpreting the notification only to ensure Respondents resort remains shut and other commercial activities continue in the garb of Nature Tourism and small commercial establishments which as stated earlier facilitates intermingling of tourists with the Jarawas.
In subsequent Orders,14 this Hon’ble Court decided on the status of the Xalxo Beach. At the commencement of hearing, the learned Additional Solicitor General placed before the Court a satellite map to show that Xalxo Beach Resort is outside the buffer zone. Learned Additional Solicitor General then gave out that amendments to the PAT Regulation are on the anvil and the same is likely to be approved by the Cabinet in next three months. The learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent invited this Hon’ble Court's attention to Notification dated 30.10.2007 and submitted that in terms of the said notification, “no person other than a member of an aboriginal tribe can enter the buffer zone for any commercial and/or tourism activities”, but in utter violation of the notification, the administration is allowing commercial and tourism activities within the buffer zone by persons other than aboriginal tribe.
While the case was adjourned to November 4, 2011 on the request made by learned Additional Solicitor General, in the meanwhile it was ordered that implementation of Notification dated 30.10.2007 is to be ensured in its letter and spirit by the Director of Tribal Welfare.
After perusing the contentions of both parties and an affidavit dated 02.02.2012 of Shri Kuldip Singh Thakur, Deputy Resident Commissioner, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, it was indicated to both parties that they may nominate two advocates who will visit the Island in question along with Shri Ajay Saxena, Director, Tribal Welfare, Andaman and Nicobar Administration. While the petitioner suggested the name of Shri T.S. Doabia, Senior Advocate, the respondent had suggested the name of Shri Sanjay Upadhyay, Advocate. Accordingly, this Hon’ble Court, appointed Shri T.S. Doabia, learned Senior Advocate and Shri Sanjay Upadhyay, Advocate as the Court Commissioners who shall visit the Island in question and submit a report to this Court within next six weeks.15 The said Order was communicated on February 9, 2012.
It is under the above directions and authority that this Report is being submitted regarding the nature of disputes that have arisen especially regarding the buffer notification and also the Andaman Trunk Road. But before I delve into the conflict per se it is important to understand the unique context of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and more importantly the historical context and settings of the settlers and the original inhabitants of this area.
2. The Unique Context of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI), the largest archipelago system in the Bay of Bengal are estimated to have risen above sea level about 1.8 million years ago. They have been recognized to be a biodiversity hotspot, due to the high percentage of endemic flora and fauna that occur here. At present, these islands harbor some of the most pristine environments in India.16 This fact necessitates extra effort on part of the Government to preserve this biodiversity along with the fact that these islands are also home to various ancient tribal communities such as the Great Andamanese, the Shompens, the Onge, the Jarawa and the Sentinelese.17 These are communities which have lived and flourished here for at least 20,000 years.18 Knowledge about the existence of aboriginal tribes in the ANI is a recent one. Before Independence of India, the ANI was mostly inhabited by aborigines and a few villages of South Andaman were inhabited by the ex-convicts settled by the British under Penal Settlement Scheme. Post independence, the Government of India created settlements within the Islands for the different displaced populations of the country. With 'growth' and 'modernisation' as new buzz-words, the emphasis of development was on island tourism. The forest area was cleared for agriculture and tourism activities. With development, more settlers moved on to the island and culmination point of all this was the inauguration of the Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) in 1978.19
With the aim of development in mind, the present government made several attempts to make contacts with the tribals. While the Great Andamanese and Onges were gradually brought into the mainstream (the merit of which is not the scope of this report), the Jarawas and Sentinelese evaded all forms of contact with the outside world. The placing of two culturally distinct people such as the non-islanders and the aboriginal tribes did result in mutual distrust amongst the two. The relationship between the two would be highlighted in the following chapter.
3. A Historical Analysis of the Relationship between Aboriginal Population and Settlers- Past and Present Conflicts
It is important to understand the relationship between the settlers and the aboriginal islanders based on historical facts towards knowing the rationale behind the tribes’ self imposed exclusion. Many members of the various tribes were forcibly taken as slaves by Arab seafarers who traded along these routes. The establishment of the penal settlement, the infamous Cellular Jail, in the islands by the British in 1858, Japanese occupation during Second World War and independent India’s colonization and resettlement plan for the islands had the effect of further isolating the tribal communities.20 While the population of the settlers has increased to about five lakh, the population of the tribal communities have dwindled.21 Only the Sentinelese and the Jarawas have been able to preserve their cultural integrity up till now. The increasing population on the islands began to cause a crunch with respect to resources available from the nature such as timber and other kinds of vital forest produce.
Hostilities began developing between the Jarawa on one side and the Administration and settlers on the other. To have a respite from this escalating tension, the Jarawa Reserve was notified in 1956 over a 700 sq. km. area, along with other areas reserved for other native islanders. The Jarawa Reserve is comprised of two large tracts of forests on South and Middle Andaman Islands. It also includes a few small adjoining islands that constitute Jarawa foraging territory today.22 Signs have been placed to demarcate Jarawa territory along with a force of 44 Bush Police camps to enforce protection of people on both sides of the boundary.23 See the adjoining Map of the Tribal Reserve including the extension in the year 2004.
Furthermore, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes), Regulation, 1956 (PAT Regulation) was also enacted in order to protect the aborigine tribes from the ingress by people from mainstream societies. While this regulation was amended various times to suit the needs of development, creation of boundaries did nothing to help the settlers and Jarawa from keeping the peace.
Moreover, since the Jarawa are a nomadic tribe, their sense of boundaries is quite different from what has been imposed upon them. This has led to further conflicts from both sides. While the Jarawa plundered iron, cash, jewellery and food articles from the settlement areas along with killing of the settlers’ livestock the settlers trespassed into the Jarawa reserve area to hunt wild boar, deer and to poach forest produce such as honey and timber.24 The ATR had to be made through the tribal reserve territory which led to further hostilities between the Jarawa and outsiders. Right from the beginning, the Jarawa had protested against the construction of this road on the grounds that it would endanger their way of life. They setup road blocks, demolished bridges and even attacked and occasionally killed the workers.25 After its completion, the traffic on the ATR has increased manifold.
With an aim to reduce these hostilities, the Andaman Adim Jan Jati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) was formed under the administration of the Union territory of Andaman Islands.26 AAJVS staged contact missions wherein gifts such as coconuts, metal implements, pieces of red cloth, and banana were dropped or distributed amongst the Jarawa.27 It was finally in October 1997, that the Jarawa emerged voluntarily and unarmed from their forest territory and initiated interactions with the outside world. This resulted in various problems for the Jarawa apart from the fact that they were an already marginalized community. These problems need to be explained in some detail.
4. Protection for the Jarawa within the Reserve
As mentioned above, the Jarawa are one of the last remaining tribal groups in this part of the world who have continued to live in the forest without being assimilated to any degree within the larger society. In sharp contrast, the nomadic Onges were encouraged to change their traditional lifestyle and move into the settlements that were created for them. Simultaneously, as welfare measure, free doles such as milk powder, rice, dal, bread, biscuits, alcohol and tobacco were offered to the Onges by the AAJVS. The Onges have been systematically weaned away from their nutrient rich, traditional diets and become extremely dependant on these free doles. Moreover precious resources like honey, resins and ambergris and turtle eggs are now exchanged by them for obtaining alcohol.28 Destruction of their lands and their forests coupled with cultural domination has broken the spirit of the Onges. From an estimated population of 670 at the turn of the century, their number today is only about a hundred29 and if the Jarawa tribe is not protected from such intrusions, then it is possible that they would go the same way as the Onges.
Giving of gifts like banana and coconuts frequently by the Administration apart from variety of eatables got from non-Jarawas in course of their interface may lead to introduction of “dependency cult” among Jarawas. They may not go for the traditional hunting and gathering activity, if they continue to get the gifts of food items. Hunting and gathering activity among the Jarawas form a central or predominant feature of their society and culture. Thus gift giving or dole system may lead to loss of the purpose of their social existence for the Jarawas.30
At present, the Jarawa have been given exclusive rights to the water, land and all the resources within the reserved territory assigned to them. Within this reserve area, they subsist on collecting plant resources, honey, larvae, fishing and hunting without the need for any other outside dependence.31 Thus it is important that the reserve area be preserved in its entirety for the benefit of the Jarawa so that they do not become destitute. With the lessening of hostilities from the Jarawa, there is growing encroachment from non tribal villagers and poachers into the reserve area and the areas adjacent to the ATR.
Food sources such as tubers, fruits, honey, ambergris, bamboo, cane, etc are also being collected illegally from the Jarawa reserve area.32
The extensive forest land in Middle and South Andaman Islands has come under large settlements thereby pushing the Jarawa out into a smaller area.
The area of the Jarawa reserve has some of the best and largest sources of timber that still survive in the islands. The ATR cuts through the heart of Jarawa territory leaving open the virgin forests for logging and timber extraction.33 One notification issued by the Chief Commissioner of the Islands in 1957 virtually declared the whole of the northern part of the South Andaman Island as a Tribal Reserve. The same authority later amended the notification in July 1979 to exclude areas east of the ATR from the Tribal Reserve and opened the forest to logging as well as for construction of the road. The eastern portion of forest along the trunk road was felled in suitable areas and regenerated with commercial species of timber including plantations of padauk, teak and didu. This ruined the Jarawa’s former hunting grounds and reduced the diversity of food species.34
4.1. Commerce and Tourism activity in the region
The encroachment by poachers of valuable marine resources such as turtles and shells, hunting of various species within the Reserve area for commercial purpose and large scale agriculture and plantations in the economic interest of settlers has created severe shortage of natural resources for the Jarawa. Shops, restaurants, lodges and hotels were started on the sides of the ATR which catered to the settlement residents as well as passing tourists. The volume of sightseeing tours that are operated by private companies, where tourists view, photograph or otherwise attempt interactions with Jarawas, who are often standing by the highway. Though no tourist is allowed to visit or interact with the Jarawa as per the Jarawa Policy, 200435 activities such as attempting contact with Jarawas, photographing them, stopping vehicles while transiting through their land or offering them rides within the Jarawa Reserve area are being done on a daily basis by private tour operators as per some submissions.
4.2. Establishment of Settlements in the vicinity in Jarawa territory
The settlements on the edge and around the reserve are dependent on the ecosystem services provided by the forests and biodiversity within the reserve. Some of these settlements have now become small townships. There is continuous traffic on the road. People from the settlements encroach on the reserve area and deplete the food and natural resources of the Jarawas. It is quite natural that the settlers competing for the same resource as the Jarawas such as the Andaman wild pig, which is an important food resource for the Jarawas, cutting wood from the reserve and fishing.
4.3. Diseases contracted through outside contacts
The people who are engaged in the regular maintenance of the highway along with tourists and other outside contacts bring with them diseases against which the Jarawas are not immune. This has been shown very clearly in the case of outburst of malaria and measles, post measles broncho-pneumonial infections and conjunctivitis among a section of the Jarawa population and death of one Jarawa by measles. There is also the possibility that pockets of infection still remain deep in the forest and more of the tribe members may get infected.36
Tourists coming to see the Jarawas give them alien foods of all kinds and thereby cause health hazards like caries in teeth, diarrhoea and other food borne diseases.37 Presently, all medical treatments are being given to the Jarawa by the Administration but these remedies are short-terms and sustainable steps are required to prevent further outbreak of diseases such as TB and Hepatitis which have been the major cause for elimination of various aboriginal tribes all over the world.38
4.4. Impact of natural disasters such as Earthquakes and Tsunamis
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located right where the tectonic Burma Plate subducts, making it a high-risk earthquake area.39 Proof for this were the series of earthquakes in December 2004 when 5801 islanders were missing or feared dead in the aftermath of the earthquake induced tsunami.40 Even though the 250 strong Jarawa tribe who escaped to high ground due to their traditional knowledge of reading nature's warning signs and saved themselves,41 the newly rehabilitated Nicobarese tribe could not do the same and lost about 656 lives with 3,000 still missing.42 Apart from other geomorphological changes on the islands, many reef flats within the Jarawa Reserve have been exposed after the recent earthquakes of 2004, changing the ecosystem that is used by the Jarawa for collecting food resources.43
The environmental interest in protecting the Jarawa and the land which they occupy would be discussed in the coming pages.
5. The Environmental Perspective in Protecting Jarawa
And The Islands from Exploitation
Andaman Islands are under immense pressure due to continual population explosion, exploitation of natural resources beyond regeneration ability and forest fragmentation. The dense evergreen forests on the islands have undergone a significant degree of fragmentation due to extraction and developmental activities. It has been revealed that South and North Andaman have maximum area under disturbance especially in the Port Blair region and adjoining major settlements.
“Long stretches of forest in Middle Andaman, Baratang and South Andaman (Jarawa Reserve) are still intact, undisturbed and characterized by diverse evergreen formations.44”
Although colonization changed and altered much of the forest on the islands, for the purpose of conversion into agricultural fields, horticultural plantations or settlements for the migrant population, the last remaining pristine tracts comprising of the diverse ecosystems are today found in a few of the many protected areas in the islands; the largest, most biologically diverse and only contiguous patch being the Jarawa Reserve.
5.1. In light of the natural disasters such as Tsunami and Earthquakes
Vulnerability of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to natural calamities such as cyclones, earthquakes and tsunamis cannot be ignored. In the recent earthquakes and tsunami of 2004, there has been a visible tilt in the ocean plate and many areas of several islands were submerged. Sea had engulfed vast areas of some islands. As almost all the inhabited islands had flat terrain with little elevation they easily got inundated by the submersion of the land.45
The islands of the region particularly the Nicobar group were protected by the coral reefs around them which had grown around the islands for many hundred years. Only gentle waves reached the shores because of the natural barriers such as mangroves, sand dunes and other coastal ecosystems. Coastlines have been eroded, with much of the sediment deposited on healthy reefs, agricultural land, creeks, or even creating new islands. Shallow soils were stripped from some low-lying atolls. The tsunami caused significant geomorphologic changes along the coastline, such as eroding sand beaches and enlarging water channels. This has made the coastline very sensitive to the monsoon waves which can now easily erode the remaining islands.46
Many coral reef flats within and outside the Jarawa Reserve have been exposed after the recent earthquakes of 2004. The gradient of the rise is toward the north of the Andaman Islands. Sailing close to the islands is now dangerous in most places with the threatening shoals and corals lurking below the sea surface. Flat Island which used to be an important sea turtle nesting site is now surrounded by exposed reef. Green sea turtles, hawksbill sea turtle and sometimes olive ridley sea turtles which used to nest here in large numbers do not do so anymore. 47
5.2. In light of the timber logging, illegal poaching of natural resources and sand mining
The forestry program in the islands with its focus on timber extraction did not lay emphasis on ecosystems such as tidal mud flats and other coastal ecosystems such as rocky shores, beaches and estuaries. The sea grass beds, coral reefs, and shoals were also ignored.48 As these ecosystems did not serve any commercial purpose in timber operations and moreover are not easily visible, they did not find place in nature conservation for many years, until recently. However, whatever damage could be done by constant logging was done so. Poaching is a serious problem in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. About 184 fishing boats were apprehended during the last one decade. There are two basic types of poaching activities in the region i.e. poachers coming from neighboring countries mainly from Myanmar in small boats to the coast for collecting marine wealth and poaching by modern mechanized trawlers of neighboring countries particularly from Thailand and Indonesia in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) on the Islands.49 The poachers enter into the Island creeks clandestinely and camp in the deep jungle for poaching crocodiles, sharks, dolphins, turtles, sea cucumbers, corals, shells and other banned species under Wildlife Protection Act.50
Sand mining is another menace on the islands which is leading to destruction of coral reefs and beaches on the Islands of Andaman and Nicobar. Construction of jetties, road and buildings need a lot of sand material. Even though beach sand is not suited for construction purpose, a total of 72 beaches around the Islands were used for extraction. In addition, it is alleged by local people that there is illegal extraction of sand even from the Jarawa Reserve area. Between 1981 and 2000, 21 marine turtle nesting beaches in ANI have been completely destroyed due to sand mining.51 Intensive patrolling is needed to control the poaching and sand mining menace in these Islands.
5.3. In light of the intrinsic relations between Jarawa and their land
Overtime as human communities interact closely with the environment in their particular area, they become adapted to such life, acquiring intimate knowledge of the environment, learn how to use and manage it for individual and group survival and help in the sustainable management of natural and environmental resources This knowledge gets encoded in the local language and gets passed on from generation to generation.52
It is important to see how the Jarawas use the knowledge that they have derived after centuries of cohabitation with nature on the Islands. They have adapted the availability of natural resources within the reserved territory to meet their requirements, in a sustainable manner. Being a hunter-gatherer community, their relationship with nature and natural resources is not confined to their regular material needs only. They have also developed some kind of extra-material relation with their physical environment.53 Without control over their forest and resources, the Jarawa will be unable to live in peace and dignity and make informed choices about their future. Upholding the Jarawa traditional lifestyle would also ensure that the harmony between man and nature within the reserve territory is not disturbed. Trying to understand the plight of the Jarawa, the Administration on its own accord has implemented various corrective measures. These measures are necessary to be discussed.
6. Administrative and Judicial Measures Taken With Respect To the Jarawa
A number of measures taken up by ANI administration to care for the Jarawas include extending medical facilities, providing day to day necessities, protection by deployment of sufficient number of police personnel, regulating the traffic on ATR and number of restrictions on tourists. Besides these, there have also been legislative measures such as enactment of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes), Regulation, 1956 (PAT Regulation), creation of the Jarawa Reserve in 1979, Jarawa Tribe Policy in 2004 and inclusion of the protection of Jarawa in the Tourism Policy in 2009. In the chronology of events followed, it would be vital to start with the ATR due to increasing significance for the settlers as well as the Jarawa.
6.1. Conception of the Andaman Trunk Road and its Results
The induction of the settlers into the islands brought with it the need for transportation and communication between the headquarters at Port Blair and the settlements which were placed in far flung areas. The existing means were through water and this was not very favorable to the settlers from the mainland that was not sea-faring. Thus the project for 333 km long Andaman Trunk Road was conceptualized which connected the four major islands of South Andaman, Baratang, Middle Andaman and North Andaman, from Chiriyatapu in South Andaman to Diglipur in the North.54 Beginning in the early 1970s the work was completed and the road made fully operational in 1989.
As per the Master Plan (1991-2021) created by the Administration for the welfare of Primitive Tribes of ANI, the Jarawa were greatly marginalised by this project because of large-scale tree-felling and use of noisy heavy machinery for construction of the road, which also drove away their prey species. The road also cut off their free access to the east coast resulting in further loss of habitat and shrinkage of their area available for resource gathering.55 With 23 kilometres of the ATR passing through Jarawa territory, various fatal conflicts occurred between the Jarawa and settlers.56 The ATR which was declared as the National Highway 22357 has now become a bare ‘necessity’ for islanders from rural South, North and Middle Andaman who rely on the road for sustenance, medical facilities, commercial and tourism activities. Moreover, the unpredictable sea route to the mainland gets affected by heavy monsoons and infrequent ferry services which have caused increasing dependence on the ATR.58 Settlements have been established at the road’s entry points and exits leading to rising excursions into the Jarawa territory for collection of forest produce and poaching. It has also been observed that the vehicular traffic on ATR has become haphazard and extremely disorganized.59 Even though existing belt of 200 metres from the central line of Andaman Trunk Road, on either side is restricted to 30 metres on either side of the ATR for the protection of Jarawa,60 yet the Jarawa are exposed to the ongoing traffic and interactions take place due to weak patrolling. Considering the ill-effects of colonization and development agendas on the aboriginal tribals of the islands and their large scale decrease in numbers, a Master Plan (1991-2021) was created by the Administration for the welfare of Primitive Tribes of ANI. The relevant points in this with respect to Jarawa would be discussed.
6.2. Efforts in Master Plan (1991-2021)
The basic principle underlying the Master Plan is to maintain the eco-cultural equilibrium of the primitive tribes on the island. Firstly, this Plan aims to re-stabilize the destabilized equilibrium and secondly it aims to equip the primitive tribes against any socioeconomic vulnerability and prepare them for co-existence with the mainstream societies. Amongst measures recommended for the welfare of other aboriginal tribes, there were various important measures suggested towards reducing the Jarawa-settler conflicts and supporting the Jarawa in being self- sufficient. These steps were sought to be taken in two phases. While the first phase was to induce territorial co-existence between the Jarawa within their Reserve area and the settlers living on the fringes through the carving out of a ‘Buffer Zone’, management of subsistence activities and encouragement of ethno-medicine alongside modern medicine; the second phase was to prepare them for acculturation with the mainstream societies at their own pace.61
It was suggested here that the Jarawa would be rehabilitated only when they are
willing and thoroughly prepared to live a settled life. While fishing would be their main occupation, hunting and gathering could be practiced in the tribal reserve area allotted to them whenever they desire. They will also be supplied with all the amenities that come with a modern lifestyle such as health, education, electricity, water supply, transport and communication.62 While this level of acculturation is yet to be reached, regarding the present condition of the Jarawa, it would be important to look at the stipulations on a Buffer Zone which was included within this Master Plan.
6.3. Creation of Buffer Zone
In spite of the existence of a Jarawa Reserve and Bush Police to check the Jarawa settler conflict, these were not sufficient to curtail the incidence of poaching and hostilities. Main reasons for this were that the Jarawa did not have the notion of a boundary being a nomadic tribe; secondly that this boundary was not demarcated on the ground and only through a notification and; lastly because the system of monitoring this situation was absent.
Buffer zone is a cushion area in which specified activities are either prohibited or regulated or permitted.63 It was stated within the Master Plan, that a Buffer Zone shall be carved around the settlement area which shall be “8 metres wide belt along the demarcating line and the latter is drawn interior in the forest nearly 500 metres away from the existing revenue boundary/ the Andaman Trunk Road/ the “forest management region”.”64
This would automatically provide for a wide safe zone between the settlers and the Jarawa so that they do not run into each other and the Jarawa can freely hunt or gather resources within their assigned territory and the Buffer Zone. Although this term was not defined within the original PAT Regulation, it has been proposed that the definition for ‘Buffer Zone’ be included to “mean an area which is adjacent to the “reserved area”, which the Administrator may, by notification under Section 3, declare to be a Buffer Zone”,65 wherein all tourist and commercial activities shall be prohibited. However, these amendments have not been passed yet. As has been mentioned earlier, the drastic change in the hostile attitude of the Jarawa led to the end of their isolation. They started coming out of their forest for peaceful interactions with the settler communities. This end of hostility also saw the increased exploitation of resources from the reserve area and their exposure to communicable diseases.
Seeing the plight of the Jarawa, a writ petition was filed in the High Court in 1999.66 The excerpts from this case and the decision of the Court would now be highlighted.
6.4. Writ Petition of May 1999 in the Calcutta High Court
Seeing the distressed condition of the Jarawa Tribe, and their sufferings from malnutrition and diseases, a writ petition was filed by Ms. Shyamali Ganguly67. The petitioner stated that because of the lack of steps taken by the administration for the welfare of the Jarawas, the Jarawa came out of their forest to search for food and unless appropriate measures are taken immediately, they might become destitute.
It was further pleaded in the petition that the Jarawa area has been shrinking illegally and illegal encroachments have been found in and around the Jarawa belt of South and Middle Andaman. The petitioner stated that there is now scarcity of food for Jarawas and their lives in their habitat in the jungle is becoming difficult for them which is also resulting in attacks by the Jarawas on the settler communities residing in the area.
By an Order68 of the Division Bench, the matter was referred to an expert committee, which constituted of following members with the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Port Blair appointed as the Member Secretary of the Committee.:-
• Dr. R.K. Bhattacharya, Director, Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta.
• Dr. Kanchan Mukhopadhyay, Head of office, Anthropological Survey of India,
Port Blair.
• Dr. Namita Ali, Director of Health Services.
• Dr. R.C. Kar, Medical Officer-in-Charge, Kadamtala.
• Dr. Miss Anima Barman, Medical Officer- in- Charge, Bharuka Charitable Trust Clinic, Port Blair.
The Division Bench directed the said committee to consider points such as whether the Jarawas as a community need to be confined within their territory or should they be brought out and merged in the mainstream population; whether the Jarawas need to be restrained from moving on the ATR to avoid any accident either to themselves or to others; does Jarawa territory require to be demarcated and declared distinctly and clearly as a prohibited area and consequential action to be taken within this regard; whether there is any shortage of food articles or other lifesaving material measures and; whether there is threat of poaching inside Jarawa territory and if so, then means to prevent the same.
The Expert Committee submitted its report and the Division Bench of the High Court directed the ANI Administration vide order dated 9.04.2001 to take the following immediate steps on war-footing after considering the report:-
• To stop poaching and intrusion into the Jarawa territory and prevent its further destruction by encroachment and deforestation;
• To issue appropriate notification clearly demarcating the Jarawa Territory as far as possible;
• Until formulation of such policy as aforesaid not to make any new construction or extension thereof in the Jarawa territory and not to make any extension of the
Andaman Trunk Road;
• To take appropriate and suitable measures to discourage the Jarawa to came out in open road for the purpose of accepting food, gift or otherwise and to educate the local people of the nearby village by holding frequent awareness camps, not to give foods and gifts explaining to them the danger so and to teach them that Jarawas are not inferior but different;
• To give them medical aids when they came out for the same only to the extent necessary and in the event one is required to be hospitalized, to segregate him totally from either patients by keeping him in a segregated area or ward;
• To undertake a periodical programme to give medical aids to the Jarawas only to the extent it is necessary in their own territory so that they need not came out on the open for receiving the same.
• To prevent contacts with the Jarawas by unauthorized persons.
• To take penal measures against the encroachments, poachers and who destroy the forest and also against the police and civil administrative authorities who are negligent in taking steps against the poachers, encroachments and destructor of forest;
• To form a high powered committee to monitor all the steps to be taken as steps are taken with all seriousness and with utmost expedition; Pursuant to this Order, a Notification was issued by the Administration demarcating the Jarawa reserve area, the details of which are as follows.
6.4.1. Notification on Jarawa reserve
The Notification69 was issued by the ANI Administration under the power conferred by sub section (1) of the Andaman & Nicobar Island (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 on the recommendation of the AAVJS declaring the areas in South and Middle Andaman as Jarawa Reserve Notified Area, to increase the resource base of Jarawas tribe. This notification superseded the administrative Notification of 197970 and 198471 which were made following the construction of the ATR under the PAT regulation.
Following this, a Policy for the Jarawa was also created by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Relevant portions of this Policy are as given in the following pages.
6.4.2. Importance of the Jarawa Policy for the protection of this marginalized community
The main objectives of the Policy among others are to protect the Jarawas from harmful effects of exposure and contact with the outside world while they are not physically, socially and culturally prepared for such interface and to conserve the ecology and environment of the Jarawa Reserve Territory and strengthen support systems in order to enable the Jarawas pursue their traditional modes of subsistence and way of life.72 These objectives form the basis for curtailing unwanted interaction of outsiders with the Jarawa so that they may be kept away from the influence of alien culture, diseases and material evils such as alcohol and tobacco. They also help in eliminating the chances of encroachment into the Jarawa territory for poaching of forest produce and species of wild animals in strict consonance with the provisions of the PAT Regulation and Wild Life Protection Act, 1972. The strategies to be followed for achieving the above-mentioned objectives include prohibition of interactions between tourists and Jarawa and to restrict traffic on the ATR to the essential purposes of public transport, supplies and emergency evacuation of patients with strict monitoring on tourist traffic passing by ATR.73 It is an obvious fact that the Jarawa are on the constant path to change. After their change of hostile stance in 1998, there was further change post 2004, after the coming of the above-mentioned policy. In order to capture this change and to make necessary revisions to the Jarawa Policy, a Group of Experts was constituted by the ANI Administration in 2011, which made certain valuable observations, keeping in mind these changing times.
6.4.3. Review of Existing Jarawa Policy
The report included various short term and long term solutions, all of which were endorsed by the Administration.74 With respect to the protection of Jarawa from outsiders, it was suggested that the frequency of the convoys on ATR be decreased and an alternate sea route for tourists, public and cargo be developed.
It was observed that the AAJVS’s efforts to restrict this traffic is never backed by the police personnel, hence this lack of cooperation must be resolved. The AAJVS which has tirelessly worked towards the interests of the Jarawa along with other aboriginal communities should be streamlined to understand the needs and aspirations of the Jarawa rather than spoiling them with government doles. The Jarawa still depend on the forest resources for their subsistence thus various kinds of poaching must be curtailed through enhanced patrolling of the reserve area on all fronts, especially the seaward side, by the Department of Police, Forest and AAJVS. The provisions of the PAT Regulation and Wildlife Protection
Act must be strictly enforced.
Exercises to sensitize and educate the non tribals and tourists about the vulnerable position of the Jarawa were also suggested within this Report so that the settlers do not feel threatened by the extra protection given to the Jarawa. Boundary related discord must be replaced by feelings of mutual trust. Attempts to research on the Jarawa behavior, their aspirations, etc should be started so that it would be easier to understand what they desire rather than imposing anything on them. In pursuance to these suggestions, the Administration of ANI, the number of daily convoys has been reduced. The restructuring of AAVJS has been taken up for the purpose of streamlining their functions and stricter implementation of PAT Regulation. Furthermore, the Administration has kept separate provisions in the 12th Plan to conduct systematic studies and research on the life of the tribal communities in association with the Anthropological Survey of India.
During the time that the Calcutta High Court was involved in the Jarawa issue as per the aforementioned Writ Petition, there was another matter pending before this Hon’ble Court which has not been resolved till date. The details of this matter need to be discussed since the order passed in the matter details on the closure of the ATR.
6.5. Implications of Prof. Shekhar Singh Commission Report
In response to an intervention related to the ANI, filed in the Godavarman case,75 this Hon’ble Court had passed detailed orders in May 2002 based on the Report of a one-man Commission namely the “Shekhar Singh Commission”. The Report amongst other things recommended that-
• To regulate the entry of people and restrict rampant encroachment and immigration declare the island as Inner Line Area within three months76.
• The administration should issue identity cards to all the residents. This will ensure that the illegal encroachers are easily identified77.
• The Andaman Trunk Road should be closed at certain points78. This should be done in three months. Further, no persons except for the Jarawas living in the reserve should be allowed to enter the reserve by any means unless he/she is permitted by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and the Secretary, Tribal Welfare, ANI Administration, and no such permission should be granted unless the person is proceeding on bonafide work related to the welfare of the tribals or the protection of the area.
As per the Order79 specific action should be undertaken by Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) or the Administration of ANI on the other recommendations of Shri Shekhar Singh Report which are not specifically dealt with in the above order. MoEF and Administration of ANI shall file an affidavit within three months giving details of action taken on each of such recommendations.
Following this order, the Administration of ANI filed Applications regarding the clarifications on this order. The Applications are pending consideration before this Hon’ble Court in W.P. 202 of 1995.
In 2007, the Administration of ANI came out with the impugned Notification setting out the limits of a Buffer Zone around the Jarawa Reserve area. This action has led to various consequences and the current imbroglio which has been explained earlier.
Having discussed the steps taken by judiciary in resolving the problems faced by
Jarawa, it would now be useful to examine the Tourism Policy 2009 which was introduced by the ANI Administration as a way of tapping the tourism potential on the Islands.
6.6. Importance of the Tourism Policy in the context of interests of the Jarawa
The Policy was introduced with the objective of satisfying the islands’ benchmark with other famous island tourism destinations. It promotes the need for an integrated approach; an approach that avoids damage to the fragile ecology of the islands and corruption of the local culture which inevitably includes the culture and lifestyle followed by the Jarawa.80
One of its strategies for the protection of Jarawa mention that no tourism activity shall be allowed around the protected Jarawa buffer area notified under the PAT Regulation. This is in consonance with the 2004 and 2007 Notification which delineate the Jarawa Reserve and Buffer Zone area respectively.81 Even though this policy mentions that Land conversion for tourism purpose will be subject to provisions of Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) regulations, this is outdated because, as per the CRZ Notification 2011, the ANI and the marine areas surrounding these islands up to its territorial limit are excluded from the ambit of the CRZ.
For the islands such as ANI, a special notification has been issued under the EPA on similar lines of CRZ notification termed as Island Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2011.
6.7. Island Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2011 and its Impact on Tourism
For the environmental management of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a notification was issued by the Central Government in exercise of its powers conferred by the Environment (Protection) Act, 198682, and the coastal stretches of Middle Andaman, North Andaman, South Andaman, Greater Nicobar and entire area of the other islands of ANI and their water area up to territorial water limit were declared as Islands Protection Zone. Any activity to be undertaken herein could be done only in accordance with the manner provided in the Island Coastal Regulation Zone (ICRZ) and Integrated Islands Management Plans (IIMP). With regard to tourism, it has been mentioned within the notification that within the ICRZ- III, development of hotels or beach resorts for tourists or visitors is allowed provided that such activity is subject to the conditions as specified in the guidelines under Annexure-III of the said notification. On the other hand, no such tourism related development is possible in ICRZ- I. Activities that have been prohibited all over the ANI include setting up of waste disposal facilities except the ones meant for hotels and tourist resorts, provided that these facilities do not fall within the ICRZ- I. Reclamation of the island land for commercial purposes such as shopping and housing complexes, hotels and entertainment activities are also not allowed.
Within Annexure III, it is said that for construction of beach resorts or hotels in the ICRZ- II and III, prior approval of MoEF should be taken provided that approval of the Tourism Department in the Union Territory shall be obtained. In addition, all ecologically sensitive areas on the ANI, such as marine parks, mangroves, coral reefs, breeding and spawning grounds of fish, wildlife habitats and such other area as may be notified by the Central or Union territories, shall not be used for the purpose of constricting tourism related hotels and resorts.
It is clear from the above there that the Central Government has for the first time provided for a strict regulatory regime under the Island CRZ notification, 2011 for the protection of the islands such as Andaman and Nicobar and with the constitution of the National Coastal Zone Management authority, a strict monitoring mechanism may also be put in place. It is therefore recommended that the implementation plan including the IIMP be put in place and a special monitoring authority under the national CZMA be specifically constituted for monitoring the development of tourism in the ANI.
7. The Various Stakeholders’ Narrative on Jarawa
It is known that the majority population of the islands is a migrant population who were brought from the mainland India onto the islands for re-settlement in various parts of ANI such as North and Middle Andaman and many places in the Southern Group of Islands. More than 50% of the population of ANI include floating population from various parts of India such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand who have settled in ANI for their livelihoods. As settlements developed in many parts of the ANI, tussle with the aboriginal tribes for land and resources commenced with casualties on both sides. While they sympathise with the plight of the Jarawa, they also have various objections to the move of the Administration with implementation of the Buffer Zone Notification dated 30.10.2007 as well as the recommendations on closure of the ATR as suggested in the Shekhar Singh Commission Report. These objections come from both settlers’ perspective as well as those pursuing commercial activities especially in the public hearing as well as the written response. (See Annexure 1 which captures the key observations and oppositions to the buffer zone notification as well as on the Andaman Trunk Road)
7.1. Impact of the Buffer Zone notification on various stakeholders
With regard to the Buffer Zone it is felt that there is no clarity on the extent of land which falls within the buffer zone area since a land to land survey has not been carried out.
The owners of commercial establishments as well as farmers residing in the areas notified as the Buffer Zone have and will suffer heavy losses. Yet no move has yet been made to compensate them for such losses.
In addition, the fishermen living in the settlement are not clear about the boundaries of the Jarawa Reserve area in the sea. This has caused arrests of the ignorant fishermen who use the sea for their fishing activities. A clarification in opposition to the 2004 Jarawa Reserve notification was also issued in the Daily Telegraph newspaper mentioning that 5 kms around the landward side of the Jarawa Reserve was the Buffer Zone. The notification has clearly mentioned that the reserve is extended to coastal waters upto a distance of 5 km from the high tide line. The settlers need to be made aware of this stipulation so that future violations of law can be avoided. Many of the villages have been settled within the areas notified for the Buffer Zone. They are greatly agitated by the move of the Administration in declaring 5kms outside the Jarawa Reserve area as Buffer Zone. They feel that this is in derogation of the Master Plan (1991-2021) which had stipulated only 500 mtrs from the reserve boundary line as the Buffer Zone. There is a need to discuss the Buffer Zone with all stakeholders without which there is a clear violation of human rights and principles of natural justice. While declaring the buffer zone, no comprehensive plans have been made for the rehabilitation/compensation of the villagers who would suffer from the stoppage of commercial activities in the said zone. A majority population also fear that restricting the movement of Jarawas within the Buffer Zone would result in undue social and criminal problems for the tribals as well as the civil population since the Jarawas would resort to plunder food and other articles from the villages in which the civil population resides. It is felt that the Jarawa are no longer a threat to their peaceful existence and are happily mingling with them. For the interest of Jarawa, it is felt that they must be brought into the mainstream so that the latter do not suffer from food and water shortage within the Jarawa Reserve area which is why the Jarawa venture out of their area and ask for food from anyone who is passing by.
7.2. Impact of the closure of Andaman Trunk Road
It has been alleged that livelihoods of the majority population of the islands would be hindered if the ATR is closed. Connectivity and communication is only possible through the ATR and the sea route. The sea route is mostly problematic because of infrequent boat services and heavy monsoon season, thus people residing in these islands are languishing. An increasing number of settlers use the ATR as the only means for commerce and transportation. If closed, it would lead to problems for the islanders in accessing education and health facilities. Also, in a disaster scenario, such as earthquake, tsunami or cyclones, the ATR is easiest to travel on. ATR is not a mere ‘convenience’ but a bare ‘necessity’ for islanders from rural South, North and Middle Andaman. Further on, it had been alleged that funds which have been sanctioned for the development of alternate sea route was done so without taking into confidence the locals and members of the PRIs.
7.3. Some Observations from the Field Interactions
The Commissioners interacted with several officials and non-officials and also visited the Baratang islands through the Andaman Trunk Road and conducted a public hearing on the following day. Some of the observations are presented below:
• Interaction with Director, Tribal Welfare, Mr Som Naydu it was conveyed that unlike in the past the interaction with Jarawas are now friendlier. Secondly, the population of the tribes has also increased in the island. Whether any co relation between the interaction and the population can be established can only be conjectural. He also informed that the current policy is a policy of non interference except medical care. The Jarawas have a strong understanding of their identity (Aang) versus outsiders or foreigners (Ine) versus local settlers (Yuno). Further, incidence of poaching by settlers in the same area is a menace that needs to be controlled.
• Visit to the Anthropological Museum and discussion with Anthropologist and Director Mr Justin revealed among other things that the Jarawas were very vulnerable tribes-
Jarawas- and were earlier not friendly at all. It’s only now and slowly that they are coming into non tribal contact and becoming somewhat friendly. However tribes such as the Sentinelese have little or no contact. The Great Andamanese were too very vulnerable and only about 50 are left now. The earlier population was far more.
The Nicobarese – have taken conversion to the mainstream in a much more positive manner and a number of them are converted (he being one). The Nicobarese are more advanced and mainstreamed and have a huge population.
The population of Jarawas are on the rise after outside contact – about 400; Shompen -298; Nicobarese -36,000; Great Andamanese- 50.they were at least 5000 before – resettled in Strait Islands; Sentinelese is not accurately known. He also described the menace of poaching which are of three types:
o By Foreigners such as Myanmarese;
o By Local friendly fisherfolks and;
o By Local unfriendly fisherfolks
• Interaction with Secretary Tribal Welfare- Ajay Saxena revealed among other things that the Jarawas need special protection and any integration needs to be gradual based on scientific principles and social anthropological criteria. He also felt that the ATR is the life line of the communities between the Andaman Islands. The issue of closing down ATR and its impacts were also discussed and it was revealed that any such move would affect the lifeline of the Andaman Island and any alternative route is very expensive although a sanction of about Rupees 135 crores has been obtained to explore such alternatives. There are about 33 villages that are impacted by the Buffer Zone Notification. More importantly no field survey has been done so far which is urgently needed.
• Meetings were also conducted with the Addl. DGP Shri Sanjay Beniwal as well as the Chief Secretary. It was informed by the Addl. DGP that a convoy system of regulating traffic on the ATR is now put in place and traffic is being daily monitored with entries of number of vehicles and number of people entering the ATR and a detailed log book is prepared at the entry check post.
• Visit through the ATR to Baratang Islands: The second day started with a drive through the ATR without any fan fare and like ordinary tourist. The ATR is a 43 km stretch from Port Blair to Jira Tang. What I saw during the travel to ATR was as follows:
o One Jarawa hut
o One parked vehicle
o One ambulance
o One convoy of 30 to 40 vehicles from the opposite direction.
• We were also informed that there are tourist attractions such as the limestone caves, the mud volcano and the parrot islands which has a lot of mangroves in and around the Baratang Islands.
• Interactions with the Pancayat heads of Bara Tang and Kadam Tala with Biju Gurudasan, Sampad Ray and Gaurango Mandal revealed that there basic livelihoods include ration shop, fair price shop, local taxis and boats. Further interactions with the members of the Langur Panchayats revealed that there are about 50 to 60 shops and about 130 people interactions with Kumari Ray, the Nilambur Pradhan stated that when the road was not there it took them close to 6 hrs and were completely dependent on the weather. This was particularly difficult for patients and other emergencies. The Baratang islands have “Ranchi Community and Bangladeshi settlement with a population of about 7,000. About
85% of the area is reserved forest and the remaining is revenue area. The neighbouring Kadamtalla islands are a 1954 settlement and a number of them speak the Jarawa language.
• According to the Tribal welfare officer, Shri Anup Mandal, who has been in the island since the last 14 years i.e. since 1998 the department use to give coconut and bananas to the Jarawas however now there is a policy of no contact. Earlier the Jarawa protection force was also created. Way back in 1954 and 1959 schools were also established in the region.
• Further it was informed the population of the affected 33 villages is about one lakh and covers an area of about 333 kms. In Baratang islands, there are restaurants, lodges and paying guests which earn meagre livelihood to the local community. The main streaming attempts of the Jarawa started only in about 2004 however, food was been supplied by the administration in about 1998.
• We also met the Zila Parishad Adhaksh, Mr. P. Prasad who opined that all settlers have been settled by the state and therefore closing the ATR or prohibiting every form of commercial activity including tourism which is their main stay would be unreasonable.
• Day three marked with the visit to the disputed sites and the following picture would reveal the extent of construction and the nearby beach and the reserve in the vicinity. It appears to be a typical nature tourism facility but since one could not interact with too many members it was not clearly established as to how such a facility would impact the tribal reserve.
• Visit to Barefoot Properties : The Disputed site
Picture 1: The facilities
Picture 2: The main residential area
Picture – 3: The Beach adjoining the disputed property with an abandoned Japanese bunker and the tribal reserve in the vicinity
• The care taker informed that all permissions including the site were allocated by the state and it is a designated tourism development facility. Land was allowed to be purchased in this area and hence the move to set up this facility.
8. Findings and Recommendations
To The Hon’ble Supreme Court: The Way Out
At the outset I wish to place on record that the findings and recommendations are based on
A short four days visit to the Andaman Islands especially the Andaman Trunk Road, the Baratang Islands along with interactions with the Panchayat leaders of Kadamtala and neighboring areas
a) A Public Hearing at Port Blair which was not so well publicized as submitted by a number of those present at the start of the public hearing especially bringing out the concerns of those who could not come from far and wide of the affected villages due to a short notice and
b) Some second secondary material along with the submissions of the affected parties during the public hearing and other NGOs and the administration.
The findings as well as recommendations have to be viewed in the above circumstances.
1. As per the proposal for amendment83 sent to The Secretary, Ministry of Home
Affairs, Govt. of India by The Directorate of Tribal Welfare ANI Administration IN November 201184 to the PAT Regulation ‘Commercial Establishment/ Activities means any commercial establishment other than tourist establishment which may employ more than 20 (Twenty) persons or have annual turnover of Rupees 1 (One) crores.’ Anything that does not comply with the above shall be prohibited. This implies that anyone who employs one less person i.e. 19 persons and whose annual income is a rupee less than One crore would be exempted. In my humble submission, such criteria where only number of employees and pecuniary limit is set to exempt or allow any activity, seems arbitrary. A more rigorous and scientific process may be established where the restrictions are more pragmatic based on ethnographical parameters and real impacts are assessed due to any commercial or tourist activity.
2. As per the above mentioned proposal for amendment85 “Tourist Establishment
“means Resorts, Hotels, Bars and Paying Guest accommodation, except Government run Guest Houses. Thus any private investment have been prohibited on one hand where as the Government run guest houses have been totally exempted giving an impression that they need no self regulation. Given the track record of a mixed up policy on Jarawas and other vulnerable tribes it would be unfair to make this arbitrary classification. It is therefore recommended that every tourism or commercial activity be it Government or private be put to strict regulation prior to their establishment.
3. Further the tourism policy of A&N islands aims to promote sustainable tourism by developing eco-friendly tourist infrastructure of International standards through Public and Private Sector initiatives and also through public-private partnerships. (See Tourism Policy of A&N). It also talks about encouraging entrepreneurship in tourism and setting up of Steering Committee for inter departmental coordination as well as Advisory Committee on Tourism. Under the regulatory framework a coastal regulation zone 1991 (now changed to Island Protection Coastal Regulation Zone 2011), the restricted area permit, the low plastic territory and also the proposed tourism trade regulation is envisaged. The action plan based on the tourism policy proposes to develop short term plans as well as long term plans. The tourism policy also aims to develop beach resorts, setting up to tourism circuits and development of 36 beach sites which also includes area in question in South Andaman. It is therefore recommended that the Andaman Administration takes a clear stand as regards their policy of involving or not involving private players especially in the context of tourism in the areas in and around the tribal reserve.
4. The said Tourism Policy has also detailed out the applicability of various conservation laws such as Forest Conservation Act, Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, and Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of such identified beach sites. The area in question in a revenue area and Forest Conservation Act is therefore not applicable however, the CRZ Notification (now the Island Protection Zone Notification and the EIA Notification would be applicable. It is also stated that said area is notified as Eco tourism site as per the Integrated Zone Management Plan. In my humble opinion such a regulatory framework would provide enough safeguards for discouraging any destructive tourism.
5. It is also clear from the above that the Central Government has for the first time provided for a strict and separate regulatory regime under the Island Protection Zone Notification, 2011 for the protection of the islands such as Andaman and Nicobar and with the constitution of the National Coastal Zone Management authority, a strict monitoring mechanism may also be put in place. It is therefore recommended that the implementation plan including the Island Integrated Management Plan (IIMP) be put in place in a time bound manner under the directions of this Hon’ble Court and a special monitoring authority under the National Coastal Zone Management Authority be specifically constituted for monitoring the development of tourism in the ANI and specially in and around the tribal reserve.
6. There is clear distinction between the terms regulation and prohibition. The Courts have also been divided in their opinion about whether regulation can include prohibition or not. This Hon’ble Court has held in a catena of judgment that in a case of total prohibition while regulation may include prohibition in order to determine whether total prohibition would be reasonable the Court has to balance the direct impact on the fundamental right of the citizens as against the greater public or social interest sought to be ensured. As regards restrictions it stated that a total prohibition must also satisfy the test that a lesser alternative would be inadequate (See State of Gujarat vs. Mirzapur Moti Kurashi, Kassab Jamat (AIR 2006 SC 233). In my humble understanding any Regulation such as the PAT Regulation especially in a dynamic context like socio-economic development of a vulnerable tribe such as the Jarawas and the right of settlers who have been settled by the state in regulation need not be out right prohibitive.
7. This Hon’ble Court especially in the context of buffer management in the Goa
Foundation Case has asked all states to submit what is ecologically sensitive area and a buffer around protected area. (See Orders dated 30 January 2006; 16.10.2006 and December 4, 2006 in WP(C) 460/2004). A similar parallel may be drawn in the current context where a one size fits all mechanical 5 km from an unclear and unsurveyed boundary of tribal reserve would be clearly inappropriate. An amendment introducing a new buffer concept therefore needs to be based on scientific rigor and based on ethno graphical parameters which have already been proposed by the new Jarawa Policy. It is therefore recommended that principles already enunciated by this Hon’ble Court may be adapted in the current context and that may serve as a guidance to the Administration for a more fair and transparent mechanism of declaring a buffer zone.
8. Mechanical and outright prohibition of tourism or commercial activities may be detrimental to the overall development of the Andaman Islands in the long run as brought out the various submissions at the Public Hearing. Therefore, in my humble opinion I request this Hon’ble Court to put in a strong regulatory authority including a robust multi disciplinary monitoring body which scrutinizes every aspect of potential impact of establishing tourist or commercial facilities and provide a detailed self audit framework which may be periodically submitted to the said regulatory authority. This could be a strong basis for future rejection of any commercial or tourist facility who do not follow the norms which they have agreed to.
9. It is still not clear whether a new proposed amendment to the original PAT Regulation can or should be retrospectively applied? The normal legal position is that the notifications are prospectively applicable. Such has been the position in all Notifications issued under the Environment Protection Act including the EIA as well as CRZ notifications. In view of the above, I recommend that the Buffer Zone notification be applied prospectively and if current establishments have to be prohibited then adequate and fair compensation be worked out.
10. What is clear from the public hearing and the reading of secondary resource material is that prior to complete prohibition of commercial establishments as well as tourism facilities, minimal or no public consultation was done especially where a totally new concept of “buffer” was introduced which was not hitherto present in the legal instrument. It is a basic principle of natural justice and also available in most legal instruments where special areas are created such as national parks, sanctuaries, reserved forests, or critical wildlife habitat or critical tiger habitat etc, a basic due process is followed for settling genuine claims of affected populations. It is therefore humbly submitted that a due process be prescribed in the proposed Regulation where a just and fair compensation is provided to those who are likely to be affected.
11. What is also clear from the above that numerous but adhoc attempts have been made to understand the Jarawas and their behavior and several contradictory approaches have been adopted ranging from no interference to partial contact to attempt to feed, to exclusive healthcare to gradual integration among others. Several Committees have been appointed including the current Commissioners such as myself from the Hon’ble Supreme Court. What is perhaps required and hence being recommended is that a long term plan be put in place where decisions to integrate or non interference be based on long term and authentic anthropological and ethnographical research by established and reputed anthropologists and ethnographers over a substantial period of research where in institutions such as Anthropological Survey of India and independent global researchers and experts in this arena be invited to study the aspirations and socio cultural contexts of Jarawas and then a decision be taken rather than adhoc approaches taken thus far by administrative decision makers. In the meanwhile the PAT Regulation as well as other development related regulations should be followed strictly where traffic at the ATR is to be strictly regulated to avoid forced interactions with the Jarawas.
12. In the above context an Expert Committee had submitted its report and the Division Bench of the High Court in CWP No 048 of 1999 directed the ANI Administration vide order dated 9.04.2001 to take the following immediate steps on war-footing after considering the report which could be strictly followed in the case of Jarawa territory:- These include
Ø To stop poaching and intrusion into the Jarawa territory and prevent its further destruction by encroachment and deforestation;
Ø To issue appropriate notification clearly demarcating the Jarawa Territory as far as possible;
Ø Until formulation of such policy as aforesaid not to make any new construction or extension thereof in the Jarawa territory and not to make any extension of the Andaman Trunk Road;
Ø To take appropriate and suitable measures to discourage the Jarawa to came out in open road for the purpose of accepting food, gift or otherwise and to educate the local people of the nearby village by holding frequent awareness camps, not to give foods and gifts explaining to them the danger so and to teach them that Jarawas are not inferior but different;
Ø To give them medical aids when they came out for the same only to the extent necessary and in the event one is required to be hospitalized, to segregate him totally from either patients by keeping him in a segregated area or ward;
Ø To undertake periodical programmes to give medical aids to the Jarawas only to the extent it is necessary in their own territory so that they need not came out on the open for receiving the same.
Ø To prevent contacts with the Jarawas by unauthorized persons.
Ø To take penal measures against the encroachments, poachers and who destroy the forest and also against the police and civil administrative authorities who are negligent in taking steps against the poachers, encroachments and destructor of forest;
Ø To form a high powered committee to monitor all the steps to be taken as steps are taken with all seriousness and with utmost expedition;
13. The public hearing as well as the written submissions hint that that there have been differences of opinion between the administration as well as the Administrator on the issuance and the manner in which the Buffer Notification has been notified. The basis of such notification has not been provided to the Commissioners. It would only be prudent that the file noting or the bases of the decision making process be laid bare and are called for by this Hon’ble Court and the reasons for disagreement as well as the reasons for overruling those disagreements be examined and a fair decision be taken to avoid any arbitrariness that may or may not have crept in the decision making process as it impacts the lives and livelihoods of over one hundred thousand people who have been settled by the State themselves.
14. That any prohibition and its impact must be examined thoroughly and a fair mechanism be put in place perhaps using principles similar to establishing the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) or Net Present Value which is based on rigorous natural resource accounting process which has been put in place and agreed upon by this Hon’ble Court for any diversion of forest land in C.W.P. No. 202 OF 1995 in the ongoing Godavarman case also be established in this case. Further the existing commercial or tourist activities and future commercial or tourist activities need to be distinguished and a clear unambiguous process be established where the role of such entities and what it entails for them is well known in advance and when they agree they know the consequences of their actions in establishing commercial or tourist facilities in their cost and benefit analysis.
Annexure 1
Responses from Stakeholders in the Buffer Zone notification issue
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
| Sl No.
| Details of Stakeholders
| Points Raised |
| 1. | Sudhir Bishwas, Ex- UP Adyaksh, Zilla Parishad, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) | - The ATR must not be closed because connectivity and communication is only possible through the Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) and an unpredictable sea route which gets affected by heavy monsoons and cyclonic weather, thus increasing dependence on the ATR.
- Buffer Zone is an area which emerged due to political reasons and people have been trading and residing in these areas long before such settlement under the Buffer Zone.
- Ignore the buffer zone which is putting a stoppage to all developmental and trade activities within this region as it is hindering with the livelihoods of the majority population.
- In addition, the Jarawas are to be brought into the mainstream like the other tribes residing in these islands.
|
| 2. | Vishal Jolly, BJP, State Vice President, Port Blair, ANI | - There is a need to discuss the Buffer Zone with all stakeholders without which there is a clear violation of human rights and principles of natural justice and
- The settled revenue villages must be excluded from the ambit of the Buffer Zone, in the same manner as the government bodies have been excluded.
- Constitutional rights of the settlers from the mainland who were settled under various rehabilitation plans must be protected first before implementation of the Buffer Zone.
- Jarawas have no issue with the settlers and the illegal poaching or incidence of unsolicited ‘friendly contacts’ must be curtailed through strict penal provisions of the law.
- ATR is not a mere ‘convenience’ but a bare ‘necessity’ for islanders from rural South, North and Middle Andaman.
- The belief that closing ATR would send Jarawas back to the safety of their jungles is not practically possible as they can always migrate to other areas bringing them closer to the mainstream.
- There is no fear at present that the Jarawas’ increased interactions with the outside world is causing a dwindling of the tribe’s population since their growth rate is 58% as per the 2011 census which is much more than the non tribal islanders’ growth rate.
- Holistic approach should consider the interests of the tribes as well as the islanders.
|
| 3. | Bengal Association of ANI, Port Blair | - Plan of the administration to close ATR in the pretext of environment and Jarawas is allegedly compromising the territorial integrity and security of the country since more than 50% of the population of ANI include floating population from various parts of India such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand who have settled in ANI for their livelihoods.
- The Onges and the Great Andamanese have started relying on welfare from the state.
- Since the beginning of 1998, the Jarawas who were hostile earlier on to outside contact have become much friendlier. Unlike the above mentioned tribes, they are not welfare dependant people and are nomadic in nature, subsisting on hunting, fishing and gathering activities.
- The Sentinelese are completely out of touch with the outside world so no attempts at contacts have been so far successful with them.
- Jarawas should be rehabilitated and brought out into the civilized world so that they can live the way they want with dignity and without compromising on their cultural identity.
- It is alleged that anthropologists and political leaders may want to keep the Jarawas primitive because of the huge funds allocated to these aborigines.
- Buffer Zone not being implemented for Shompens at Great Nicobar is another example of not seeing through the real issue.
|
| 4. | Andaman Nicobar Territorial Congress Committee, ANI | - A number of measures taken up by ANI administration to care for the Jarawas including extending medical facilities, providing day to day necessities, protection by deployment of sufficient number of police personnel, regulating the traffic on ATR and number of restrictions on tourists.
- Jarawas themselves want to come into the mainstream like the other tribals on the islands.
- “Adam Jan Jati Vikas Samiti” created for the welfare of all tribals including the Jarawa were doing a good job.
- Restricting the movement of Jarawas within the Buffer Zone would result in undue social and criminal problems for the tribals as well as the civil population since the Jarawas would resort to plunder food and other articles from the villages in which the civil population resides.
- Tourism which is the only commercial activity on the islands would come to an end.
|
| 5 | Proceedings of Emergent Gram Sabha Meeting of Tushnabad Gram Panchayat | - Resolutions were passed by the Gram Sabha on cancellation of buffer zone notification dated 30/10/2007 to restrict buffer zone boundary beyond the Gram Panchayat Tushnabad jurisdiction.
- The Jarawas boundary must be fixed and the tribals must be restricted within that area. If the administration forces Buffer Zone on the villagers by terminating their rights, then there would be agitation.
- Compensation has been demanded for looting/forcefully taking of crops, cash, food, jewellery from the house of settlers by Jarawas in the village.
- It is also demand that the Jarawas should be civilized and their children to be educated as done by the ANI administration in the case of the Nicobarese.
- Another request is to ascertain the boundaries in the sea so that there would be clarity amongst non tribal islanders who go out for fishing that they are not entering the reserve boundary at sea. Unless such boundary is fixed, no further arrests of the fishermen should be made.
|
| 6 | Tapan Kumar Das, Advocate
| - While declaring the buffer zone, no comprehensive plans have been made for the rehabilitation/compensation of the villagers who would suffer from the stoppage of commercial activities in the said zone.
- Both sides up to a distance of 30 meters of the ATR have been de-reserved already and if people are employed to monitor these areas, then the influx of outsiders can be curtailed.
- There is no clarity on the extent of land which falls within the buffer zone area since a land to land survey has not been done, leading to the owners of commercial establishments suffering heavy losses and approaching the High Court.
- Unless the sea side approach to the Jarawa reserve area is not closed, the closing of ATR would not really help.
|
| 7 | All India Forward Bloc, State Committee, Port Blair
| - Request has been made to follow the guidelines and regulations issued by this Hon’ble Court to restrict the influx of outsiders into the ANI which include the Audit query regarding declaration of the Islands as inner line area, regulation of entry of non-residents to the ANI and issue of Islanders Identity Card.
|
| 8 | Indigenous tribes of the world and the Jarawas of Andaman-ATR and Buffer Zone by Dr. M. K. Debnath
| - It is stressed that the ATR is the lifeline of the people of ANI for basic sustenance and medical facilities.
- People, who violate the code of conduct as concerns the Jarawas, should be subjected to the penal provisions of India.
- The basic human rights of the Jarawas should be satisfied by the Administration by providing them food, clothing, health care and formal education, however without compromising the cultural integrity of the Jarawas.
- Total exclusion of the Jarawas within the Buffer zone would result in them along with thousands of nontribals being cut off from food and health care.
- Construction of a new road along the coastal area, keeping the Jarawas within the reserve area would result in environmental degradation as well huge costs.
|
| 9 | All India Kisan Sabha, ANI
| - Persons possessing land and commercial establishments have not been given the opportunity to be heard by the Administration before passing such a notification.
- Farmers residing in the notified areas with agriculture and horticulture as their means of livelihood have been asked to vacate their lands, which is neither practical nor reasonable. Provisions of Land Acquisition Act should be invoked before taking back any of the rights of the people over these lands.
|
| 10. | Bishnu Pada Ray, Member of Parliament
| - There is a proposal to amend the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation 2011.
- Tourism sector would be affected by this buffer zone notification.
- In a disaster scenario, the ATR is easiest to travel on and ANI is on high risk zone.
- Jarawas Policy, 2004 to be followed strictly and 8 convoys across the ATR to be started.
|
| 11. | G. Kurma Rao, Zilla Parishad Member, Baratang Island
| - There is no concept of ‘Buffer Zone’ in the original PAT Regulation, 1956 and amendments have been proposed to give a definition for this term.
- As per Kolkata High Court’s directions, considerable area was brought under the Jarawa reserve with provision for future addition of more area for the habitation of Jarawas. Hence no need for any further consideration for Buffer Zone.
- Notification on Buffer Zone is bad in law. It is against the mandate of the Jarawa Policy which recommends only 500 mtrs of Buffer Zone and not 5 kms.
- Apart from tourism, the activities of other departments will also be affected by the declaration of Buffer Zone, including extraction of timber.
- Amendments to PAT Regulation do not provide criteria or procedure for declaration of any area as Buffer Zone; any maximum limit for the zone; any seeking of public opinions and views of stakeholders.
- The definition of commercial/ tourist establishment is vague and activities such as movement of tourists by bus or by boat, departmental activities are not covered.
- Private tourist establishments such as resorts, hotels. Restaurants, bars and paying guest house accommodation have been included in the scope of the amendments, except government run guest house.
|
| 12 | Pradhan, Gram Panchayat, Kadamatla | - Funds have been sanctioned for the development of alternate sea route without taking into confidence the locals and members of the PRIs.
- The NH 223 would be broken at two places as a result of the Buffer Zone notification.
- Request is to implement the Master Plan in ANI which was created at the time of settling outsiders in the Kadamatla and Baratang Gram Panchayats,
|
| 13. | Responses by the media
| - Article titled ‘Buffer Zone- A thoughtless move by a bureaucrat “SKP Sodhi”’ by Harris Anselm in The Andaman Messenger dated, 1/2/2012 brings to notice the various lapses on part of the Tribal Welfare Department before issuing of Notification on the Buffer Zone.
- Allegedly, there has been no application of mind.
- Only a single resort at Collipur was the target of such closures, while the other closures were notified as an afterthought when this Hon’ble Court noticed that the Administration is implementing this notification not universally but selectively. There is a panic situation amongst the islanders due to these actions of the Administration.
- Move to keep out tourists from the Buffer Zone area while the kith and kin or friends of higher authorities of the administration are at liberty to trespass into any reserved areas, is arbitrary.
- Frequent amendments have been necessitated to the PAT Regulation to give powers to the Lt Governor in notifying a Buffer Zone and to keep the small commercial establishments outside the purview of the notification.
- 5 kms around the Buffer Zone was restricted as per the notification, which included the sea as well. Unwary fishermen who ventured into the sea within these 5 kms were penalized. However a clarification was issued in the Daily Telegraph newspaper mentioning that 5 kms around the landward side of the Jarawa Reserve was the Buffer Zone, which has come as a relief for the fishing community.
- Instead of closing the ATR, the focus must be on penalizing the defaulters.
- Certain commercial establishments/resorts/hotels have been closed during the pendency of the case before this Hon’ble Court, in anticipation of a forthcoming law, which is wrong. Also, the notification has also been amended various times while the matter is sub-judice.
- North and Middle Andaman Districts must be developed so that dependence on the ATR for satisfying the basic needs such as food and health care from the South Andaman District can be avoided. Hence notwithstanding closure of ATR, the North and Middle Andaman Districts can be self-sufficient.
|
References
List of materials referred to concerning the Buffer Zone Notification in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Letter from Sudhir Bishwas, Ex Up Adhyaksh dated 18.2.2012
- Letter from Vishal Jolly, State Vice President, BJP, Port Blair
- Letter from Bengal Association of Andaman and Nicobar Islands dated 18.2.2012
- Representation by Jessy John, Dew Dale Resorts dated 18.2.2012
- Letter from Andaman Nicobar Territorial Congress Committee dated 18.2.2012
- Proceeding of Emergent Gram Sabha Meeting of Gram Panchayat, Tushnabad dated 12.1.2012
- Letter from Advocate Tapan Kumar Das dated 18.2.2012
- Letter from All India Forward Bloc dated 18.2.2012
- “Indigenous Tribes of the world and the Jarawas of Andaman” by Dr. M. K. Debnath
- Letter from All India Kisan Sabha dated 18.2.2012
- Letter from BJP dated 18.2.2012
- Petition filed by the Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
- Representation from All India Trinamool Congress dated 18.2.2012
- Petition from Bishnu Pada Ray, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) with Annexures dated 18.2.2012
- Letter from Harris Anselm dated 18.2.2012 with newspaper article
- Relevant newspaper articles dated 13.1.2012, 3.2.2012, 17.2.2012
- Petition from Office of the Gram Panchayat, Sundergarh, Baratang, dated 17.2.2012
- Petition from G. Kurma Rao, Zilla Parishad Member, Baratang Island, dated 18.2.2012
- Petition from Office of the Pradhan Gram Panchayat, Kadamtala, dated 17.2.2012
- Fax from Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Directorate of Tribal Welfare dated
- 16.2.2012
- Letter from Directorate of Tribal Welfare dated 19.11.2011 on Proposal for amendment of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956
- Letter from Directorate of Tribal Welfare dated 22.9.2011 on Review of existing Jarawa Policy, 2004
- Copy of Sixteenth Report by Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2010-2011)
- Andaman and Nicobar Administrative Secretariat dated 27.1.2011 on Alternate Route to Baratang Island
- Some news items on Andaman and Nicobar Islands- Barefoot case compiled by NA
- Article in the Down to Earth, Issue Date: 2009-8-16- Port Blair bench allows resort that may endanger Jarawas
- Sixteenth Report by Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2010- 2011)
- Pankaj Sekhsaria, Troubed Islands, Kalpavriksh and LEAD-India
- Tourism Policy by Andaman and Nicobar Administration
- Master Plan (1991-2021) For Welfare of Primitive Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands by Andaman and Nicobar Administration
- The Jarawa Tribal Reserve Dossier by Kalpavriksh
Footnotes
1 No. 234/2007/F.No.1-752/2007-TW dated 30.10.2007
2 WP. No. 328 of 2007, Order dated 17.03.2009
3 MAT No. 031 of 2009, Order dated 02.07.2009
4 Ibid.
5 SLP (C) 12125 of 2010
6 WP No. 48 of 1999 dated 9.04.2001
7 Order dated: 29.10.2010
8 Dated 13.11.2010
9 Dated 23.11.2010
10 Dated: 3.12.2010
11 Dated 13.12.2010
12 Order dated: 15.12.2010
13 Dated 25.01.2011
14 Order dated 04.03.2011 and Order dated 01.08.2011
15 Order dated 03.02.2012
16 Manish Chandi & Harry Andrews, The Jarawa Tribal Reserve: the ‘last’ Andaman forest, pp. 43-53; Pankaj
Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
17 See Master Plan 1991-2021 prepared by S.A. Awaradi, 1990 and reprinted in 2002, p. 7
18 Pankaj Sekhsaria, TROUBLED ISLANDS: WRITINGS ON THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND
ENVIRONMENT OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, 2003, p. 4
19http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/audience.nsf/%28docid%29/F9A80B2192F1C436E5256C420013D0D9
20 Ibid, p. 15
21 Id, p. 15
22 Manish Chandi & Harry Andrews, The Jarawa Tribal Reserve: the ‘last’ Andaman forest, pp. 43-53; Pankaj
Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
23Manish Chandi, Colonization and Conflict Resolution: Learning from reconstruction of conflict between
indigenous and non-indigenous islanders, pp. 12-17; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE
JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
24 Master Plan, p. 149
25 Pankaj Sekhsaria, TROUBLED ISLANDS: WRITINGS ON THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND
ENVIRONMENT OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, 2003, p. 16
26http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/audience.nsf/%28docid%29/F9A80B2192F1C436E5256C42
0013D0D9
27 Ibid
28 http://www.ashanet.org/library/articles/hindu060699.html
29 Ibid
30 http://www.and.nic.in/C_charter/Dir_tw/ecr/saa-2.pdf
31 Umesh Kumar, B. N. Sarkar, (et. al.), The Jarawas and their lands, pp. 58-63; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit
Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
32 Ibid
33 Samir Acharya, Andaman Trunk Road and the Jarawa situation, pp. 72-76; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit
Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
34 Ibid
35 Policy on Jarawa Tribe of Andamans Islands as approved by the Kolkata High Court vide their order dated 9-
4-2001 in WP No. 048 of 1999
36 Pankaj Sekhsaria, TROUBLED ISLANDS: WRITINGS ON THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND
ENVIRONMENT OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, 2003, p. 19
37 Manish Chandi, Colonization and Conflict Resolution: Learning from reconstruction of conflict between
indigenous and non-indigenous islanders, pp. 12-17; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE
JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
38 Pankaj Sekhsaria, TROUBLED ISLANDS: WRITINGS ON THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND
ENVIRONMENT OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, 2003, p. 20
39 http://theresa-ell.suite101.com/deadly-earthquake-destroyed-andaman-nicobar-a214487
40 http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/Tsunami2004/sitrep20.htm
41 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0808_050808_jarawa.html
42 http://www.sc99ews.com/Tsunami/Impact.htm
43 Manish Chandi & Harry Andrews, The Jarawa Tribal Reserve: the ‘last’ Andaman forest, pp. 43-53; Pankaj
Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
44 Samir Acharya, Andaman Trunk Road and the Jarawa situation, pp. 72-76; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit
Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
45 http://www.tilakbera.info/weblog/?p=157
46 Ibid
47 Manish Chandi & Harry Andrews, The Jarawa Tribal Reserve: the ‘last’ Andaman forest, pp. 43-53; Pankaj
Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
48 Ibid
49 http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/6858/1/JB_ITMEMS_3_paper.pdf
50 Harry V. Andrews, Impact Assessment around the Jarawa Reserve, Middle and South Andaman Islands, pp
64-71; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010
51 Manish Chandi & Harry Andrews, The Jarawa Tribal Reserve: the ‘last’ Andaman forest, pp. 43-53; Pankaj
Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
52 Caring for the Earth, IUCN/UNEP/WWF 1991, 61, Box 11.
53 Umesh Kumar, B. N. Sarkar, (et. al.), The Jarawas and their lands, pp. 58-63; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit
Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
54 Samir Acharya, Andaman Trunk Road and the Jarawa situation, pp. 72-76; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit
Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
55 Ibid
56 Vishvajit Pandya, Hostile borders on Historical landscapes: The placeless place of Andamanese culture, pp.
18-29; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
57 GOI MOSRTH Notification dated 25.02.2004
58 Samir Acharya, Andaman Trunk Road and the Jarawa situation, pp. 72-76; Pankaj Sekhsaria and Vishwajit
Pandya (ed.), THE JARAWA TRIBAL RESERVE DOSSIER, 2010.
59 Report submitted by Group of Experts constituted by Ministry of Tribal Welfare vide A & N Admn. Order
No. 330, dated 27th July 2011
60Vide No.159/2004/F.No./1-752/2002-TW (PF) dated 15.9.2004
61 Master Plan, p. 180-181
62 Ibid
63 http://www.navhindtimes.in/opinion/uniformity-buffer-zones-impractical
64 Master Plan, p. 171
65 No. 1-467/2009-TW/979
66 Pankaj Sekhsaria, TROUBLED ISLANDS: WRITINGS ON THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND
ENVIRONMENT OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, 2003, p. 22
67 Writ Petition No. 48 of 1999
68 WP No. 48 of 1999, Order dated 7.2.2000
69 No.159/2004/ F.No. 1-752/2002-TW (PF) dated 15.09.2004
70 No. 1077/F.No. 40-243/78-TW dated 19.07.1979
71 No.1-324/82-TW dated 09/04/1984
72 Objectives (i) and (iv), Jarawa Policy 2004
73 Strategies 2 (f) and 4, Jarawa Policy 2004
74 Report submitted by Group of Experts constituted by Ministry of Tribal Welfare vide A & N Admn. Order
No. 330, dated 27th July 2011
75 W.P. 202 of 1995
76 Shekhar Singh report para 22
77 Shekhar Singh report para 23
78 Shekhar Singh report para 26
79Direction 20, W.P. 202 of 1995 dated 7.5.2002
80 Tourism Policy of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, p. 5
81 Tourism Policy of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, p. 11
82 section 3(2)
83 Section 2 (i) PAT Regulation, 1956
84 Dated:19.11.2011
85 Section 2(h) PAT Regulation, 1956
