Infrastructure development is an area of focus
of the Government of Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Government has proposed
to undertake major Infrastructure Projects in the State to attract investment
and for the overall development of the State. Infrastructure set up in
the state includes, power, communication, banking, medical facilities,
education etc. Accessibility of the Islands is mainly by Air and Sea.
Aviation
Port Blair is connected with Chennai
and Kolkata by air. Presently flights are operated by Indian Airlines/
Alliance Air and Jet Airways. Alliance Air operates between Kolkata
and Port Blair as well as between Chennai and Port Blair. Jet Airways
operates between Chennai and Port Blair. For reducing the cost of travel
from and to the islands and for the international positioning of this
amazing destination , the up-gradation of the Port Blair Airport into
an international airport is high on the agenda.
Waterways
Ports of the island are strategically
located and are in the vicinity of three major international shipping
routes. These are 23 notified ports which are spread over the entire stretch
of the island and 78 vessels operating in the four sectors, namely:-
- Mainland–Island Sector to provide
services between Port Blair and Chennai/ Kolkata / Vizag with large
vessels.
- Inter-Island Sector to provide service
between Port Blair and the distant group of islands with medium size
vessels.
- Foreshore Sector to provide services
between Port Blair and nearby islands.
- Harbour Ferry Services to provide
service within the sheltered water and narrow creeks by ferry vessels.
The Directorate of Shipping Services
runs shipping services connecting Port Blair with Kolkata, Visakhapatnam
and Chennai.
Surface Transport
State transport department and private
operators run regular city and suburban bus services from port blair
to Rangat, Mayabunder and Diglipur. The transport department has extended
its services to ten Islands (from Diglipur in North to Campbell Bay in
South) besides Port Blair
Power
Due to the geographical and topographical peculiarities
of these islands, including separation by sea over great distances, there
is no single power grid for all the electrified islands and instead a
power house caters independently to the power requirements of an area/islands.
Also, the entire power supply is through diesel generation. Diesel generating
sets of varying capacities are located at different islands. At present,
there are 35 (inclusive of IPP) Diesel Power Houses at different locations
in these islands having diesel generating sets of capacity ranging from
6 KW to 5000 KW & One Hydro Power Station having capacity of 5.25MW
on Kalpong River at North Andaman, with total aggregate installed capacity
of 64.05MW. It is proposed to establish biomass based power generation
system at Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Katchal, Campbell Bay, Middle Andaman
etc, totaling to around 500 KW capacity by utilising the biomass waste
from Palm Oil and Coconut plantations, Saw dust and lops & tops from
forest extraction coups etc.
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