Port Blair, Sept. 27: The Member of Parliament, Shri. Kuldeep Rai Sharma has taken up as many as 15 burning issues of Car Nicobar Island with the Chief Secretary of Andaman & Nicobar Administration. In his letter he mentioned that today the members of Tribal Council of Car Nicobar had met him and discussed several problems of the Islands.
The following issues were taken up by the Member of Parliament with the Chief Secretary:
1) New Islanders’ Card/ Smart Card Issue: The Member of Parliament pointed out that since a long time new Islanders’ Card has not been issued for the people of Car Nicobar Island.
On this issue he requested the Chief Secretary to send a team of officials to Car Nicobar for the issuance of New Islanders’ Cards /Smart Cards.
2) Aadhaar Update: The Member of Parliament said that a large number of people of Car Nicobar Island are waiting to update several information about their Aadhaar Card for which it is often not possible for all people to come to Port Blair. It is a time consuming and expensive matter.
In this matter he requested to send a team of officials to Car Nicobar Islands for atleast two weeks for necessary Aadhaar update works for the Islanders of Car Nicobar.
3) Demand for Electricity Site office at Sawai and Big Lapathy areas of Car Nicobar Island: The Member of Parliament mentioned that due to absence of an electricity site office in Sawai and Big Lapathy areas, during any electricity line fault, the residents of the region fail to lodge complaint on time and hence they have to suffer power cut for long hours.
In this regard he requested to open Electricity Site Offices at Sawai and Big Lapathy villages of Car Nicobar Islands with 24 hours manning.
4) Overflow of Septic Tanks of Permanent Shelters: He said that the septic tanks of most of the permanent shelters are full and there is no arrangement of cleaning the septic tank. The Member of Parliament requested the CS to issue instructions to concerned departments to carry out the septic tank cleaning task.
5) Old Water Pipelines: He mentioned that most of the water pipelines of APWD in Car Nicobar Islands are old and rusted and hence this is raising serious concern of water contamination. The MP requested to carry out a survey in this regard and lay new water pipelines.
6) Soil Erosion in Mus Village: The soil erosion of Mus Village is a major issue and there is a long pending demand of construction of a sea wall in the coastal area of Mus Village. He requested the Chief Secretary to initiate the work for the protection of land in Mus Village from erosion.
7) Deplorable Road Conditions: Most of the road stretches of Car Nicobar Island are in bad shape hence the Member of Parliament requested the CS to order repair works of all roads of Car Nicobar Islands for the convenience of the public.
8) Helipad at Kakana Village: There is long pending demand for construction of a Helipad at Kakana Village for the Car Nicobar Island, hence he requested to complete the project for the benefit of the islanders.
9) Posting sufficient school teachers: Most of the schools of Car Nicobar lack sufficient numbers of teachers and hence the Member of Parliament requested to post sufficient numbers of school teachers in Car Nicobar Island.
10) Huge shortage of desks and benches in all schools: He pointed out that most of the schools of Car Nicobar do not have sufficient desks and benches and hence he requested the Chief Secretary to supply sufficient number of desks and benches for all the schools of Car Nicobar.
11) Repair of Nursing Home of BJR Hospital: There is a growing demand for repair of the Nursing Home of BJR Hospital of Car Nicobar, hence he requested to intervene in this matter and repair the nursing home.
12) Setting up Blood Bank and starting dialysis at BJR Hospital: He added that the members of Tribal Council of Car Nicobar have demanded for setting up a blood bank at BJR hospital of Car Nicobar. Similarly they also demanded to start dialysis at Car Nicobar. The Member of Parliament requested to look into these crucial issues.
13) Fight connectivity for Car Nicobar Island: Earlier on two different occasions Islanders have seen flights connecting Car Nicobar Island with Port Blair. Hence he requested the CS to restart the flight connectivity between Port Blair and Car Nicobar atleast once in a week.
14) Providing Kerosene for outboard engines of fishing boats: Fisheries department has provided outboard engines for fishing boats of Nicobar District, which runs only in Kerosene. As there is a curb in supply of kerosene and fishermen of Car Nicobar are finding it difficult to get kerosene for their fishing dinghies. He requested the CS to make kerosene available at Car Nicobar through the open market.
15) Sailing of an all-port ship for all major islands of Nicobar District via Hut Bay once every 10 days: The Member of Parliament mentioned that Shipping Services is the lifeline of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, especially for the people of the Southern Group of Islands. Thousands of Nicobari brothers and sisters are living scattered in different Islands of Nicobar District, who have a strong link with other but presently due to unavailability of connecting ships, they are forced to come to Port Blair and wait for several weeks to get a ship for any other Island of Nicobar District and they have to undergo similar hardship in their return journey.
For this journey from one Island of Nicobar District (Including Little Andaman Island of South Andaman District) to other Islands of Nicobar District and vice versa via Port Blair they have to incur heavy expenditure and go through tremendous mental agony. Not only this, such a journey via Port Blair is also very time consuming.
He added that all port ships are also required to supply fresh vegetables, fish and meat from Little Andaman to Car Nicobar and other Islands of Nicobar District, where a large number of tribal population and government servants and their families reside. The Member of Parliament requested to provide one sailing of an all-port ship for all major islands of Nicobar District via Hut Bay once in every 10 days.