India's Beautiful Sailing / Water Sports Destinations : Part I - Emerald Islands: Islands Of Good Fortune !

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Did you know that the union territory of Andaman Nicobar was the first to be liberated in India’s struggle for independence? These islands, popularly called the Emerald Islands hold special significance in the history of India. Legend has it that the name Andaman is derived from Hanuman, an important character in the `Ramayana.' Hanuman was called as `Handuman' by the Malayas. Ptolemy, the Roman geographer, included the islands in his first map of the world in the 2nd century and described them as "the islands of good fortunes." Rightly named, the investment opportunities and incentives in this Heaven’s Garden seem plentiful…


INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure development is an area of focus of the Government of Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Government has proposed to undertake major Infrastructure Projects in the State to attract investment and for the overall development of the State. Infrastructure set up in the state includes, power, communication, banking, medical facilities, education etc. Accessibility of the Islands is mainly by Air and Sea.

AVIATION

Port Blair, the capital, is connected with Chennai and Kolkata by air. Presently flights are operated by Indian Airlines/ Alliance Air and Jet Airways. Alliance Air operates between Kolkata and Port Blair as well as between Chennai and Port Blair. Jet Airways operates between Chennai and Port Blair. For reducing the cost of travel from and to the islands and for the international positioning of this amazing destination , the up-gradation of the Port Blair Airport into an international airport is high on the agenda.

WATERWAYS

Ports of the island are strategically located and are in the vicinity of three major international shipping routes. These are 23 notified ports which are spread over the entire stretch of the island and 78 vessels operating in the four sectors, namely:-

1. Mainland–Island Sector to provide services between Port Blair and Chennai/ Kolkata / Vizag with large vessels.

2. Inter-Island Sector to provide service between Port Blair and the distant group of islands with medium size vessels.

3. Foreshore Sector to provide services between Port Blair and nearby islands.

4. Harbour Ferry Services to provide service within the sheltered water and narrow creeks by ferry vessels.

The Directorate of Shipping Services runs shipping services connecting Port Blair with Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Chennai.

SURFACE TRANSPORT

State transport department and private operators run regular city and suburban bus services from Port Blair to Rangat, Mayabunder and Diglipur. The transport department has extended its services to ten Islands (from Diglipur in North to Campbell Bay in South) besides Port Blair.


POWER

Due to the geographical and topographical peculiarities of these islands, including separation by sea over great distances, there is no single power grid for all the electrified islands and instead a power house caters independently to the power requirements of an area/islands. Also, the entire power supply is through diesel generation. Diesel generating sets of varying capacities are located at different islands. At present, there are 35 (inclusive of IPP) Diesel Power Houses at different locations in these islands having diesel generating sets of capacity ranging from 6 KW to 5000 KW & One Hydro Power Station having capacity of 5.25MW on Kalpong River at North Andaman, with total aggregate installed capacity of 64.05MW. It is proposed to establish biomass based power generation system at Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Katchal, Campbell Bay, Middle Andaman etc, totaling to around 500 KW capacity by utilising the biomass waste from Palm Oil and Coconut plantations, Saw dust and lops & tops from forest extraction coups etc.

Thus to conclude, besides tapping tourism, business opportunities on the islands seem to be growing. Stay tuned as we bring to you more updates on the shape of things to come on the islands of good fortune!