What NITI Aayog has Planned for Little Andaman?

The NITI Aayog has recently released its plan for Little Andaman. The plan is named as “Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island Vision Document”. It has been planned for the sustainable and holistic development of the island in Andaman and Nicobar.

Background

The Little Andaman is a 680 sq km fragile Island in the Andaman and Nicobar island group. The fragile environment of the island has raised alarm among conservationists. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, also declared in the year 2020 that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be developed as a “maritime and start-up hub”. The document by NITI Aayog has been formulated in that context only.

Objectives of the document

The NITI Aayog has prepared the Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island Vision Document with following objectives:

1. To invest in the strategic location and natural features of the island because this island is critical for India’s security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
2. To provide a better infrastructure and connectivity to the island that will, in turn, help India to enhance its military and naval strength in the islands.

What is the plan?

NITI Aayog has planned to:

1. Build a new greenfield coastal city. It has planned to develop the city as a free trade zone. It will also compete with Singapore and Hong Kong.
2. The developmental plan has been divided into three zones:

• Zone 1: It is being developed as the monetary district and is spread over 102 sq km in the east coast of Little Andaman. It would also comprise of medi metropolis and can embody an aerocity, tourism and hospital district.
• Zone 2: It is a leisure zone that is spread over 85 sq km of pristine forest. It would comprise of movie metropolis, a residential district and a tourism Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
• Zone 3: It would be a nature zone and spread over 52 sq km of pristine forest.

About Little Andaman

The little Andaman is the part of the Little Andaman Group. This is the fourth largest island in Andamans. It is famous for its main village and the largest settlement on the island called Hut Bay also known as the Kwate-tu-kwage. The island is at about a distance of 120 Kilometers by sea from the Port Blair. The island is home to Onge Tribes apart from other multilingual settlers of Bengali, Telugu, Tamil and Ranchi communities.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2021