Andaman reefs survive, but tourism is in peril
If divers from the Hong Kong Underwater Club had gone as scheduled on March 25 for a week's holiday in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, they would have discovered that the magnificent coral reefs of the Indian Ocean archipelago have once again survived a natural calamity.
In 1988, when the El Nino phenomenon raised sea temperatures and bleached coral worldwide, the Andaman reefs escaped relatively unscathed. And in December, many coral formations in the Indian islands were unaffected by the tsunami, even though the giant waves originated in nearby Sumatra.
But the impact of the tsunami was felt in other ways, putting on hold a pioneering effort to open up the barely explored islands to East Asian travellers. The Hong Kong divers were among the first to sign up to one of the new weekly charter flights from Bangkok, which had been due to start in January. The flights were designed to avoid a circuitous route via the Indian mainland and cut travel time by six hours.
The flights had also been scheduled to bring diving enthusiasts from Shanghai, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, in addition to ordinary tourists.
But the service was halted in the wake of the tsunami. They will now begin with the next tourist season in October.
'Tourism has tremendous potential in the Andamans, and the future lies in connecting to East Asia,' said Samit Sawhny, the Andamans-based travel entrepreneur who planned the Bangkok charters and runs a resort and diving school on Havelock Island.
Tourists are barred from the southern Nicobar islands, where India has two military bases that help police the Malacca Strait.
But the Andamans to the north are open to visitors and are endowed with spectacular, unspoilt natural beauty - evergreen rainforests, pristine beaches, and crystal-clear waters teeming with exotic marine life.
'I had heard this is paradise, but it's more than that,' said Eran Bir-Menashe, an Israeli backpacker snorkelling at Havelock's deserted Beach No 7, which was recently nominated as one of Asia's best by Time magazine.
Despite their stunning beauty, the Andamans attracted only 5,500 foreign tourists last year, a majority of them backpackers. But as part of its post-tsunami rehabilitation plan, the government now plans to lure more tourists from abroad. Ten 'eco-friendly' resorts will be opened and fewer restrictions imposed on tourists.
'Tourism has to be one of the main employers here,' said Lieutenant-General Aditya Singh, the region's military commander, who is spearheading reconstruction.
In the past, investors were uncertain if the military would permit the growth of tourism. But General Singh is clear that 'security and development can go together'.
'India has a major military base in Agra [site of the Taj Mahal], yet it is one of the most important tourist spots in the world,' he said. 'The army will not stand in the way of tourism development in the Andamans.'
