Everyday flights to Port Blair keep growing, meanwhile tourist arrivals climb without pause. To plenty of Indians, the Andamans now feel like a top getaway spot – yet one thing lingers: what is it really costing the indigenous peoples of the islands?
These islands host a few of Earth’s most isolated communities – like the Ang (as known as the Jarawa, which means “outsider” in a nearby Andamanese tongue), along with the Sentinelese, Onge, and Shompen. With travel pushing further into once-shielded areas, worries grow over how it affects native lands, nature balance, and community well-being.
The Andaman Islands might look stunning – yet unchecked travel there brings problems needing focus.
The “Next Maldives” Masterplan
India’s pushing the islands as a fresh hotspot, kind of like a next-gen Maldives. Lately, more flights have launched, internet access has improved, while fresh travel routes continue to pop up. These shifts sparked quicker business attention across sectors.
Folks worried about nature and people’s rights are sounding off on big building plans – take that debated project on Great Nicobar Island. Fast, massive construction might mess up animal habitats while also disrupting native tribes living there. Some say the changes could stick around way longer than expected. Each new road or port adds pressure without clear answers on what gets lost.
The Human Cost of Every New Frequency
Each extra flight, a cruise docking, or a resort pier going up – pull strangers nearer to island tribes. Yet, these folks keep saying they don’t want more contact. While tourists arrive through deals with social media names, locals stay cautious. As development spreads, distance between cultures shrinks whether wanted or not.
As one Ang man said in a France24 report:
“We lead a peaceful existence in the forest and we’re happy.”
Still, the Great Andaman Trunk Road – though India’s top court advised limiting it since 2002 – keeps letting tourists pass right across Ang land. A few visitors and tour groups now treat these trips like “human safaris,” even though serious moral and legal issues have lingered for years.
A different line from that same report shows how uneasy it feels:
“We don’t like going on the road – it’s very bad.”
Groups like Survival International say uncontrolled travel plus big construction might threaten isolated tribes’ existence. Some tribes barely interact beyond their communities, making them vulnerable. Projects near their lands grow fast without proper oversight. Tourists often ignore boundaries, disrupting traditional lives. Experts fear damage could become irreversible soon.
This Is Not Development – This Is Erasure
Night flights from Port Blair are seen as a big boost for travel and links to the outside world. Yet when officials talk about new airstrips – like the one planned for Great Nicobar – they usually call them vital for security and growth.
However, opponents say fresh runways, harbours, or villages might split off guarded woods, messing up terrain native communities use to hunt, collect food, or keep traditions alive. Reviews of nature effects along with talks involving locals are still widely debated – activist findings point to lasting environmental and human costs if building moves forward lacking tougher protections.
This isn’t just about expansion. For native island communities, poor planning might completely disrupt traditions lasting millennia.
The Same Old Colonial Playbook, New Runway
History weighs on the Andamans – colonial prisons once stood here, then war took hold, followed by years of neglect. Today, tourists flood in thanks to worldwide ad campaigns. What makes these islands valuable now are their sandy shores – but this quick shift brings back old dangers.
Nowadays, it’s less about open conquest – more about real estate, tour boats, or the push to profit off each shoreline.
What you can do right now to help
If you think paradise shouldn’t come at the cost of pushing people out, try these real actions that actually help:
- Sign & share Survival International’s research and activism
- Support campaigns calling for stricter protections for Indigenous lands and for regulating the Great Andaman Trunk Road
- Steer clear of any company running – or ignoring – trips to see Ang/Jarawa people
- Back EQUATIONS (equitabletourism.org) and the Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology (SANE), two Indian organisations working on the ground
Once delicate environments or traditions get exposed to crowds through tourism – no rules in place – it’s impossible to turn back time.
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