THELIGHTOFANDAMANS: Viper Island: Design Grandiose?

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Viper Island: Design Grandiose?

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 36 | ISSUE 01 | 01 OCT 2012

Viper Island: Design Grandiose?

By Zubair Ahmed

In the Expenditure Finance Committee meeting held on 25 Feb 2010, Chief Secretary Vivek Rae had stated that an integrated plan for Viper Island is on the anvil and a consultant is being appointed separately. He had also reiterated that the Yatch Marina would in no way conflict with the integrated plan.

On 1st June 2010, a Pre-bid meeting for Appointment of Project Development Advisor was held at Andaman Bhawan in which a sample of the integrated plan was presented and a grandiose plan unveiled.

In the whole scheme of things, the heritage structures featured nowhere. Whereas in the proposed zoning and activity zoning maps, there were casinos, tree houses, cable car, man-made beaches, dolphinarium, fun zones and giant wheel rides.

In fact, the intention of the ANI Admn was to develop the whole of Viper Island as an Entertainment Hub. And, when protests from various quarters started mounting, the Admn had no option but to show that they were concerned about the heritage structures. They also unexpectedly dropped talking about their outrageous integrated plan for the Island.

And to push the Yacht Marina project ahead, it used all dirty tricks like creating fissure in Local Born Association by highlighting Dr Rohinder Lall as a well wisher of the project. However, the resistance from LBA veteran John Lobo along with others shocked the Admn.

Next, the Administrator tried his typical approach of using his Man Friday, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Congress President to convince John Lobo to back off, which also did not materialize.

PROPOSED ENTERTAINMENT HUB

CABLE CAR: A Cable Car system from a nearby island to the top of Viper Island can be developed. The cable car entry to the island can be the first point of attraction into the islands. The cable cars preferably may be in seating formats to provide all round uninterrupted view of the sylvan surroundings.

MARINA: A Marina will be set up at Viper Island to park the private and public Yachts. The Parking facility of the Yachts will attract people from different countries.

LUXURY RESORTS: Luxury resorts can be developed for people wanting to spend quality time.

ECO RESORTS - TREE HOUSES: Andaman & Nicobar Islands have trees that grow up to an average height of 60-70 ft. Such trees are also present in the Viper Islands (Garjan etc). Eco-tree houses can be built to create a magical ambience and environment in these untamed and untouched natural areas.

CASINO AND ENTERTAINMENT HUB: The main attraction of the Island along with entertainment Hub which may consist of Gaming areas, activity areas, Food Courts, Restaurants etc.

MAN MADE BEACHES: Presently Viper Island has no beaches. A man made beach may to be created for beach side activities like Beach Sports / Water Sports / Sun- Bathing etc

DOLPHIN SHOWS: Dolphins can be a major attraction and the USP of the Island. The entire Indian Sub- Continent does not have a dolphin show as yet.

FUN ZONE: Giant Wheel, Roller Coasters, etc

The kids and the family zone.

WATER SPORTS: Water Bikes, sails, Water Skiing, Canoes etc. A necessity at any beach front.

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About The Light of Andamans

The Light of Andamans’ was born out of the zeal and determination to fight against the suffocating Kafkaesque atmosphere on the society that existed even after 30 years of Independence under bureaucratic rule. It was a hangover of the ‘Raj’that extended much too long in the Islands.

The Light of Andamans’ was started in 1975. The paper had always been a crusader, taking up the causes that no other newspaper would touch. In doing so, it very often stepped on the toes of the authorities and had to face persecution in the form of denial of advertisements and numerous court cases against it. For a small stint, the publication came to a halt in 2003.

Gezira Publications Private Limited took over the paper in the year 2005 and transferred the title in a bid to revive the second oldest newsmagazine from extinction and also to carry forward the mission.

The Newsmagazine, under the new management, has undergone a sea change both in form and content. It turned into a full-fledged tabloid with 10 pages with plenty of photographs making both pleasing to the eyes and soothing for the mind. “It has acquired a position where it influences the policies in vital matters concerning the development of the islands, protection of aboriginal tribes and addressing the problems of the disadvantaged groups. The newsmagazine is known and appreciated for its bold, free, fair and balanced reporting.”

Late Govinda Raju and his team worked very hard to rebuild the reputation, goodwill and a healthy new image of the newsmagazine brick by brick. After the demise of Mr Raju in 2010, the magazine is now being edited by Zubair Ahmed and published by Basudev Dass. The newsmagazine continues its mission of highlighting policy issues pertaining to the Islands.