News
Covid-19 hits nine of dwindling Great Andamanese tribe
BY S VENKAT NARAYAN
Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, August 28:
Nine cases of Covid-19 have been recorded among the Great Andamanese tribe, setting off alarm bells in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration. A Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), the Great Andamanese now number only 59. While five of the coronavirus patients have recovered, the others are doing well, officials said.
What is worrying the authorities is that the four new cases have been discovered in the remote Strait Island, where the tribe is based. On Friday, a special community health officer will be reaching the island to keep a close watch on the tribe, as well as other PVTGs like the Jarawa, Shompen and Onge.
While the Union territory has seen 2,985 Covid cases (676 of which are active) and 41 deaths so far, the Great Andamanese is the first among its vulnerable tribes to be hit by the coronavirus.
Dr Avijit Roy, Joint Secretary, Health, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the nodal officer for the Union territory’s Covid-19 response, said they had tested all the 59 Great Andamanese members — “34 in Strait Island and 24 in Port Blair” — after five of them living in Port Blair had tested positive.
He said the samples of the four on Strait Island who have tested positive were taken on August 22. “We got the report the next day. They were moved to isolation wards of G B Pant Hospital in Port Blair. They are cooperating well and recovering fast.”
Roy pointed out that unlike the other PVTGs, the Great Andamanese frequent Port Blair and the administration has built a special home for them to stay in the capital.
“The Great Andamanese are a small population but they are in touch with the general population. While no one is allowed to visit Strait Island, they are allowed to come and stay in Port Blair. So, the risk of them getting Covid was high,” Vishvajit Pandya, a renowned anthropologist and director of the Andaman and Nicobar Tribal Research and Training Institute, said.
Pandya, who has been working in the Union territory since 1983, was present when the Jarawas made first contact with the outside world in 1997. He stressed on the need to keep the tribes isolated.
“The administration should implement what it says. The Great Andaman Trunk Road has still not been shut. If the administration thinks that since the tribal groups are deep in the jungles they will not come in touch with settlers, they are wrong. Even the Jarawas, Shompens are vulnerable to Covid-19 because they engage with settlers in barter to get rice and other items. Even recently settlers were arrested inside the Jarawa reserve,” he said.
Amit Kumar Ghosh, the Superintending Anthropologist at the Anthropological Survey of India, pointed out that in the 1850s, the Great Andamanese numbered between 5,000 and 8,000. “Then a penal colony was set up and diseases like syphilis, gonorrhoea, flu and others spread. By 1901, their population had dropped to 625, and by the 1931 Census, only 90 Great Andamanese were left. By the 1960s, they were down to a mere 19, and were settled on Strait Island,” he said, highlighting the vulnerability of the PVTGs to illnesses.
Ghosh added that the danger is even higher for other tribes. “The Great Andamanese have been in contact with outsiders for the last 50 years. But a disease like this could wipe out the entire population of the Jarawas and Sentinelese.”
Roy said they were aware of the threat, and had taken appropriate measures. “No one is allowed into the areas where the tribal groups are located. All government and health officials who go there are tested for Covid prior to their visits. Only vehicles with essential commodities are moving on the Andaman Trunk Road which cuts through the Jarawa Reserve, and the drivers and others in vehicles are also tested before allowed in,” he said.
An official of the Tribal Welfare Department in-charge specifically of the Jarawas said: “A small team of ANM and department officials is posted near the forest where the tribe lives, keeping a watch while maintaining distance. All of them are housed in an isolation facility and regularly tested.”
The Andamans is home to five PVTGs, the Sentinelese, Jarawa, Great Andamanese, Onge and Shompen. This is besides the Nicobarese, who are Scheduled Tribes. The Sentinelese are the most reclusive of them all, resisting outside contact.
In November 2018, an American national, 27-year-old John Allen Chau, had been killed by the Sentinelese when he tried to illegally approach them. Officials have not managed to recover his body till date.
The much-delayed Provincial Council (PC) elections cannot be held this year due to financial and legal constraints, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva has said in Jaffna.Silva said so, fielding questions from journalists after the opening of the NPP coordination office in the Jaffna District on Saturday.
When asked whether the government was under Indian pressure to conduct the Provincial Council elections soon, Silva answered in the negative, claiming that Sri Lankan and Indian governments maintained close and friendly relations with a strong level of understanding.
He said budgetary allocations had been made for the PC elections, but the government had been compelled to divert resources for disaster relief following the impact of Cyclone Ditwah. According to Silva, nearly Rs. 500 billion had to be allocated for relief measures, making it difficult to hold the elections this year. He further said legal complications in the electoral reform process had also contributed to the delay in holding the PC elections, noting that a parliamentary committee had been appointed to determine the electoral systems under which the PC polls should be conducted. Once the committee submitted its report and if no further issues arose, the elections could possibly be held next year, he said.
Silva also said the government had taken measures to strengthen reconciliation and development in the North by releasing lands previously occupied by military camps and improving road infrastructure.He added that empowerment initiatives were being implemented under the Praja Shakthi programme and that both Sri Lanka and India were continuing to work in close cooperation.
More than 31,000 people across Sri Lanka have been affected by worsening weather conditions, as the southwest monsoon intensifies ahead of its full establishment, raising fears of renewed flooding in vulnerable low-lying areas, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has warned.
The DMC has said 31,072 individuals from 7,983 families have already been impacted by persistent rain, strong winds and rising water levels across multiple districts, with the situation most severe in the Gampaha District where 15,313 people from 3,950 families have been affected and one death reported.
Officials have cautioned that the scale of disruption could worsen as the southwest monsoon is expected to fully establish over the island around May 26–27, bringing heavier and more sustained rainfall to the southwestern region.
At present, 18 safety centres are in operation, sheltering 1,724 displaced persons from 446 families. One person has been injured and 859 houses have been partially damaged. Two houses have been destroyed.
The Department of Meteorology has forecast increased rainfall over the coming days, warning that conditions are likely to deteriorate further as monsoon activity strengthens.
Flood-hit areas remain widespread, with river systems still under pressure despite a brief easing in rainfall on Saturday. The Kelani River has returned to normal levels, but minor flooding persists along the Kalu River basin, particularly in the Millakanda area, where tributary water levels remain elevated.
Low-lying areas in Bellapitiya, Horana, continue to be inundated, while traffic on the Bulathsinhala–Kalutara road remains disrupted due to flooding in Diyakaduwa. Authorities have also flagged continued risk in Putupawula and Ellagawa along the Kalu River.
The Attanagalu Oya basin is also slowly receding, though residents in Dunamale have been urged to remain on alert. Several homes in Ja-Ela remain underwater, with residents alleging that delayed repairs to a damaged canal embankment worsened the flooding.
In a fresh blow to infrastructure, the Swarna Hansa Podi Ela bridge in Ja-Ela collapsed on Saturday evening, further disrupting local transport links, while the main Ja-Ela–Gampaha bus route remains submerged in parts of Yakkaduwa.
Meteorologists have warned that rainfall is expected to intensify again from May 26 to 28, when the southwest monsoon is likely to be formally declared over Sri Lanka, raising the risk of further flooding and landslides in already saturated areas.
by Norman Palihawadane and Chaminda Silva
Police said a suspect wanted in connection with the murder of an elderly couple inside a shop in Dickoya town, Hatton, had been arrested on Saturday evening (23).
The arrest was made in the Bogawantalawa police area. Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested him while he was hiding in a house on a tea estate.
Police said stolen gold jewellery had been recovered.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, originally from Badulla, had been residing in Dickoya after his marriage.
Earlier on Saturday, Hatton Police released CCTV footage of the suspect and sought public assistance to trace and arrest him.
According to police, the suspect allegedly slit the throat of the elderly woman and killed her husband using a sharp weapon on Thursday (21) before fleeing with gold jewellery valued at around 18 sovereigns, including a necklace and earrings.
Investigations further revealed that the suspect had arrived in Dickoya town on the morning of May 21 and visited several jewellery shops claiming he intended to purchase a gold necklace, while loitering in the area.
Police said that around 1.15 pm, he entered the couple’s shop and remained concealed inside the premises before allegedly carrying out the attack.
Hatton Police added that the suspect is believed to have committed the murders and left the shop around 5.30 pm the same day before going into hiding.
by Norman Palihawadane
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