(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, 01 FEB - A visionary project for the construction of mega tourist settlements and a coastal city on the Little Andaman island of the Andaman archipelago raises alarm among ecologists.
The Hindu newspaper reports on a document prepared by NITI Aayog, the central government think-tank, which plans to urbanize at least 32% of the areas of the island that have hitherto been protected as forest and as reserves for tribal inhabitants.
The project envisages the development of three areas, with the construction of a city which, equipped with an international airport, should attract financial and health companies, a cinema and tourism district, and a naturalistic area on the west coast, with ecological resorts, golf courses, hotel facilities dedicated to wellness.
According to the document, not yet made public, the city could become a free-trade zone, like Singapore and HongKong.
In a document dating back to last September, the island's Forest Division advanced serious objections to the project, raising strong alarms for the fragility of the ecological system, the rights of indigenous peoples and the high risk of earthquakes and tsunamis in the area.
According to The Hindu, a meeting is planned in the next few days to cancel the status that protects the reserve of the tribal population of the Onge.
(HANDLE).