By Sanjay Kumar
Not only are India’s Andaman and
Nicobar Islands an entryway into a world of pristine beaches and natural
wonder, they are also home to wonderful people.
Tanaz Noble is one of them. The 29
year-old is a certified instructor of kayaking who not only trains tourists in
water sports but also promotes ecological and environmental preservation.
For the eight months from October to
May – the peak tourist season – Noble shifts her base from Port Blair, the
capital of Andaman and Nicobar, to Havelock, one of the main tourist
destinations located around 50 kilometers north of the capital.
Through kayaking and snorkeling, she
exposes both domestic and international tourists to the sea. However, she never
forgets to give her customers a lesson in environmental preservation.
In an interview with The Diplomat,
she said that “the ecology in Andaman is very beautiful but very fragile and
delicate. What I have seen underwater 20 years ago as a child is dead due to
the tsunami in 2004 and global warming. Earlier it was easy to see coral life
within three meters [of the surface]; now you have to dive 20 meters to see
coral life.”
Noble strongly believes that Andaman
needs regulated tourism and that commercial interests have to be balanced with
the ecological interests.
She promotes this belief through
Andaman Kayak, an organization she founded in 2010. A former journalist who
worked with some of the leading national publications in Delhi and Mumbai,
Noble left the profession and decided to become a kayak instructor at
the age of 24. Her passion for the environment and adventure sports
brought her to this small island with a population of 8000. Internet and mobile
network connectivity are poor in Havelock, but these shortcomings do not deter
Noble from honing her passions.
“When the tsunami struck in 2004, a
shift in the continental shelf took place. One end of the shelf sank and the
other came out. Havelock is part of the shelf that came out. [Across these
shelves], there were lots of mangroves which just died and and
completely disappeared,” she recalls. “Therefore it is very important to handle
the fragile ecosystem in a very sensitive way. Andaman needs tourism but
without compromising its fragile ecology," she adds.
In the last five years, tourist
inflow into the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has doubled and Havelock receives
the majority of the attention. According to a rough estimate, Havelock receives
more than 2000 tourists per day. The main attractions include a variety of
watersports including diving, snorkeling and kayaking, bolstered by its clean
beaches. According to a survey by Time magazine, Havelock’s Radhanagar
beach is one of the top beaches in all Asia.
Tourism has improved the local
economy and a majority of locals make their livings in the industry. However,
for Tanaz Noble, who makes a living entertaining tourists, the unbridled entry
of tourists into the Islands is both an opportunity and a threat.
She says that “package guests have
no ethics and they litter plastic bottles all around. Therefore, it is
important that any kind of plastic bottle be taxed. The government should set
up a recycling plant to keep the area clean. [The tourists] leave a bad
footprint.”
The former journalist gives this
lesson on environmental ethics to all her kayaking and snorkeling clients. “If
we don’t care now then in the next 30 to 40 years, Andaman and Nicobar will
become another Goa; it will become a garbage dump and the place will lose its
wonderful ecology and coral life. Therefore, besides promoting tourism, we have
to engage with environment.”
Jackson, a diving expert and a
pioneer in discovering many diving sites across Havelock, expressed similar
views. Some of the diving sites in Havelock are named after him and his
brother. As operator of the Ocean Tribes diving school, Jackson takes extra
care to ensure that coral life remains untouched and undisturbed over the
course of his lessons for tourists during the peak seasons. Hailing from a
Karen group, a local tribe, Jackson, like the majority of his community
members, is a natural diver.
“Havelock is a wonderful place for
diving. You can see millions of fish at some diving sites but such marine life
can be preserved only if we are extra careful and don't try to tamper with its
ecology. Global warming has affected marine and coral life here but we are
trying our level best not to disturb the ecology through human folly. It’s a
constant effort and needs the support of everyone.”
The original link can be found at: http://thediplomat.com/the-pulse/2013/11/08/tourism-threatens-the-environment-in-indias-andaman-islands/
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