Shaheed Dweep, July 13: The Transport Department under A&N Administration has been consistently taking many pro-active steps to provide reliable, affordable and quality bus service. Besides improvement in the comfort level of travel in the buses, Department has also taken up lot of initiatives to improve the facilities in all over the UT of A&N Islands. As part of this endeavour and to provide comfortable service outreach to the commuters, Transport Department, with the help of APWD, has constructed a Bus Terminus at Shaheed Dweep to provide basic amenities and waiting shelters for the convenience of the commuters including visiting tourists.
This newly constructed Bus Terminus was inaugurated by Dr. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, IAS, Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, today in the presence of Ms. Chanchal Yadav, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, A&N Administration, Dr. Sachin Shinde, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri. Rajanish Kumar Singh, IAS, Secretary (Transport), Ms. Purva Garg, IAS, Deputy Commissioner (South Andaman), Shri. Vinayak Chamadia, IAS, Director (IP&T) and Shri. Kamaleshwar Rao S, SDM (SA). Shri. Dashrath Verma, Zilla Parishad Member, Shaheed Dweep, Smti. Champa Das, Panchayat Samiti Member, Shaheed Dweep and Smti. Pinkey Das, Pradhan, Gram Panchayat, Shaheed Dweep were also present on the occasion.
The event was followed by flagging of an STS Bus from the newly constructed Bus Terminus and planting of spices/ fruit bearing saplings in the premises of the Bus Terminus by the dignitaries.
While speaking on the occasion, Chief Secretary applauded the contributions of PRIs and the public of Shaheed Dweep in development of public amenities in Shaheed Dweep. He informed that as per the last year’s data on tourism, it was revealed that tourist flow in Shaheed Dweep increased by one lakh tourist arrival. This implies that public amenities and facilities in Shaheed Dweep needs to be developed to cater to the growing demands and tourism potential of the Island. Administration has undertaken construction of waiting shed and amenities at Shaheed Dweep Jetty with the support of PRIs and public. Just like the passenger terminal facility being developed at Swaraj Dweep, new facilities will be planned for Shaheed Dweep also including Sea Plane terminal and other amenities. Development of power infrastructure in Shaheed Dweep is in pipeline including Solar power project under PM Surya Ghar Yojana, Telephone and wifi issues has been taken up with BSNL and it has been assured for improvement before the next tourist season, CANI submarine project is being explored for Shaheed Dweep.
The Chief Secretary emphasized on planting of spices and fruit bearing trees in Shaheed Dweep owing to its fertile soils and hardwork of the farmers. He requested the farmers of Shaheed Dweep to avail the benefits from Agriculture Department in growing the Spices and Fruit bearing trees in their farms which can also support their families in long run. He further requested the PRIs for focussing on agriculture development in the Island and mainly focussing on growing spices for commercial purpose so as to support the farmers financially as well as for their consumption also. As tourism is the main occupation in Shaheed Dweep, development of public infrastructure facilities will surely boost the tourist footfall in the Island. He welcomed any suggestions from the PRIs and general public to come forward and give suggestions for future development of the Island. He requested the PRIs to work closely with the Administration for maintaining the public facilities in the Island and inform the Administration to take any corrective action needed for maintenance.
The Secretary (Transport), Shri. Rajanish Kumar Singh, IAS welcomed the gathering and informed the public that the Bus Terminus project was completed at a cost of Rs. 2.5 Crores. He further mentioned about the unfortunate road accidents that took place recently involving STS buses and the corrective actions taken by the Department to eliminate such events in future.
Shri. Nitesh Singh Rawat, Director (Transport) concluded the event with vote of thanks.