Focus: GS-III Industry and Infrastructure
Why in news?
Prime Minister launched and dedicated to the nation, the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Andaman & Nicobar Islands to the mainland through video conferencing.
Details
- The Services have already begun on a major chunk of the islands from Chennai to Port Blair, Port Blair to Little Andaman and Port Blair to Swaraj Island.
- The main obstacles were: the laying of cables for about 2300 kilometers under the sea as surveying in the deep sea, maintaining the quality of the cable and laying of the cable with specialised vessels overcoming challenges such as high waves, storms and monsoons and the tough times owing to Corona Pandemic.
Benefits highlighted by the PM
Ease of Living
- This Optical Fibre Project which links A&N Islands with the rest of the country will improve ease of living and aid speedy development of national security linked border areas and island states.
Increase Opportunities through Digital India
- The Submarine Cable will help A&N in getting cheaper & better connectivity and all the benefits of Digital India, especially in improving online education, tele-medicine, banking system, online trading and in boosting tourism.
- This is very crucial as Andaman & Nicobar is an important centre for India’s Economic-Strategic Cooperation and the Indian Ocean has been the center of India’s trade and strategic prowess for thousands of years.
- Under the Act-East policy, the role of Andaman and Nicobar in India’s strong relations with East Asian countries and other countries connected to the sea is very high and is going to increase.
Port Led Development
- Andaman & Nicobar will be developed as a hub of Port Led Development as it is at a Competitive Distance from many ports of the World and the CANI will help in the effort.
- A country which has better network of ports and their connectivity will be able to provide a boost to trade in the 21st Century.
International Maritime Trade
- The focus of these projects including CANI are also on promoting Ease of Business in the sea and simplifying Maritime Logistics.
- The speedy construction of the deep draft inner harbor and the proposal to construct TransShipment Port in Great Nicobar etc., are along the same lines of thought.
Click here to read about the Benefits of the Submarine Cable connectivity to Andaman and Nicobar and more (3rd Article)
High Impact Projects & Better Land, Air and Water Ways
- High Impact Projects are being expanded in 12 islands of Andaman and Nicobar.
- The effort is to further improve physical connectivity through road, air and water apart from providing for better internet & mobile connectivity.
- Main focus is on the work on two major bridges and the NH-4 in order to improve the road connectivity of North and Middle Andaman.
- the Port Blair Airport is being enhanced to handle larger capacity and Passenger Terminals in Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep and Long Island along with Water Aerodrom Infrastructure like Floating Jetty will be ready in the near future.
- 4 Ships are also being built at Kochi Shipyard and shall be delivered soon to improve the Water connectivity between the islands and the mainland.
