From kvriksh@VSNL.COM Sat Sep  6 20:32:38 2003
Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 09:18:32 +0530
From: kvriksh@VSNL.COM
To: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU
Subject: Story on the Andaman Trunk Road

HEART OF DARKNESS
The Andaman Trunk Road has brought disease, death but little development to the island^“s indigenous community

by PANKAJ SEKHSARIA, Indian Express, Sunday, August 31, 2003
Port Blair: THE Andaman Trunk Road was once flaunted as the road that would bring development to the island. Instead, it has ushered death and disease for the Jarawa, an indigenous community which lives in the thick forests of Andamans.
Originating in Port Blair in South Andaman, the Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) cuts across the islands to reach Diglipur some 340 kms to the north. It runs on four different islands: South Andaman, Baratang, Middle Andaman and North Andaman. In two places, the buses climb on to ferries that are needed to cross the creeks; parts of it run through some of the finest surviving tropical rainforests. And it has reached the Jarawa, a small community with an estimated population of around 260 people.
The Jarawa is an indigenous community of Negrito origin who have lived in the forests of the Andamans for thousands of years. It is these forests that the Andaman Trunk Road slices through, ripping the land of the Jarawa.
When work on the road began in the late 1960s, the Jawaras were not consulted. They opposed it violently, attacking the workers. It^“s alleged that in retaliation, the camps of construction workers were fortified with high voltage wires and many Jarawas were electrocuted. As work on the road progressed, it made the forests of the Jarawa more accessible. Their lands became settlements, agricultural fields, horticultural plantations. The road brought in settlers; it also took out timber. There was nothing for the Jarawa to gain.
Contact with newcomers brought disease to this insular community. In 1999 a measles epidemic hit the community, infecting about 60 per cent of them.
As Dr James Woodburn of the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science explains: ^—^—When a previously isolated community with low population density (like the Jarawas) comes into contact with one of high density (like the settlers), they are particularly vulnerable to diseases like measles against which they have not acquired any immunity in childhood.^“^“
The road has brought the Jarawa other vices: alcohol, tobacco, gutka and reportedly even sexual exploitation. A new kind of tourism, Jarawa tourism has also started in Port Blair. Tourists hire vehicles to drive on the ATR with the sole purpose of seeing the Jarawa. The roadshow has become a freak show.
The Andaman Trunk Road is probably one of the most contested in the country. It^“s presently the subject of two writ petitions, one in the Supreme Court and another in the Kolkata High Court. A Supreme Court appointed Commission last year even recommended the shutting down of about a third of its length that runs along or through the forests of the Jarawas.
In the islands, however, it is the writ of the local administration alone that runs. The road remains open. The administration say it^“s the lifeline of the islands, a sign of development and a vital national security requirement.
But when an earthquake hit the northern part of the islands, it was not the road that was of any help. Two ships were kept on stand by for emergency evacuation of people. What the islands need is a good shipping system.
A recent survey of traffic on the ATR, revealed that travellers to Diglipur, in fact, preferred to use the sea route as it is cheaper, faster and more convenient. The survey conducted by Richa Dhanju of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) along with the Port Blair based Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology (SANE), threw up some interesting figures. Approximately 100 big and small vehicles carrying about 900 people use the ATR daily. Nearly 65 percent of these road users are sarkari babus and tourists; babus who still receive a ^—hardship allowance^“ that was started in the pre-ATR era for those who lived in one region but had to travel to another for work.
The survey also found out that the road means a lot of money. Rs 45 crore or Rs 1,300 per passenger is spent on road maintenance every year.
The Andaman Trunk Road has meant different things to different people. It has meant money for the contractor, entertainment for the tourists, convenience for the settlers. But for the Jarawa, it has only meant trouble.