A panel of Union environment ministry made recommendation for clearance of two luxury tourism projects consisting of tents and tree houses in two of the Andaman Islands that are in the ecologically fragile zone and in the vicinity of turtle nesting sites.
The ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) for projects related to coastal regulation zone (CRZ) discussed three projects in three islands for the second time. They made recommendation for two of them — at Lalaji Bay on Long Island and at Smith Island to get clearance from the Island Protection Zone (IPZ) with some riders. A third project in Aves Island is still being considered by the ministry.
“We only make the recommendation. The final decision has to be taken by the environment ministry. The project proposed at Lalaji Bay on Long Island in North and Middle Andaman district needs to receive an environmental clearance now. So it will be appraised by another committee,” said an official from the environment ministry.
“The second project at Smith Island, also in North and Middle Andaman, will be recommended for clearance. But the third project in Aves Island is at about 20 meters from high tide line (HTL) and hence we have some reservations about it,” added the official
One of the riders is that the Smith Island, which is famous for the nesting site of Green Sea Turtle and Hawksbill Turtles. The project is about 1.5km from a turtle nesting site and cannot have any tourism during nesting season (from December to April).
Earlier during last month, the proposal was deferred after the EAC observed that the projects are located in ecologically fragile and biodiversity rich areas. EAC members said that solid waste management and disposal was a primary area of concern
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a cluster of 572 islands and islets, 36 of which are inhabited. Tourism facilities are mainly limited to Havelock and Neil islands.
“The committee observed the area of concern is in respect of management of solid waste collection, treatment and disposal. The committee in particular was concerned of the mechanism of control of solid waste management in such a fragile area, once the project is commissioned and handed over,” stated the minutes of meeting of the committee in reference to all three projects.
