A strike is being observed in an island on India's eastern Andaman-Nicobar archipelago after violence erupted on Thursday when residents turned violent over a controversy related to post-tsunami housing, officials and environmentalists say, writes Subir Bhaumik, BBC, Calcutta 201106 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/.
Forwarded by Geoff Payne 201106

Police charged rampaging crowds at Hut Bay in the Little Andaman islands with batons (lathis) to break up demonstrations , first in front of a government office (tehsildar's office)  and then in front of a hospital where some of those injured in the action were been treated. When they failed, para-military troops of the India Reserve Battalion were called in to quell the protests, officials said.

At least twelve people were injured, three seriously. The protestors burnt down an official vehicle and a motorbike. Senior government officials and the only member of parliament from the Andamans, Manoranjan Bhakta , have rushed to Hut Bay in helicopters and navy ships.

The residents of Hut Bay, who were one of the worst sufferers during the December 2004 tsunami that ravaged the Andaman-Nicobar archipelago, are protesting against the location of their new houses and the kind of material used in them.

"The permanent houses the government is making for us are located far away from our workplaces . And these houses are based on pre-fabricated material which
will make them so hot . Also the houses are on twin sharing basis which is not acceptable to us," said Hut Bay resident Somnath Banik.

Environmentalist Samir Acharya said the Hut Bay residents had been upset on the post-tsunami housing issue and two strikes had been observed in recent weeks in protest against what residents describe as "the high handedness of the administration."

The victims of the tsunami were first put up in tents in 207 evacuee camps, then shifted to 9565 temporary shelters made of tin roofs and are now being shifted to 8566 new houses made for them with pre-fabricated structures that have been shipped from mainland India at considerable cost and after overcoming difficult logistics.

The Nicobarese tribespeople in south of the archipelago , who bore the brunt of the tsunami, were the first to protest against the pre-fabricated housing because it was supposed to be very hot for the warm climes of the archipelago.

Last month, the Nicobarese stopped erection of these new houses in some parts of their islands. The Nicobarese were also upset when the Indian navy tried to evict
six of their people , one of them a hundred-year old. The Navy said these six tribespeople were encroaching on Navy land -- the residents say the land was theirs.

"We could have constructed our own houses at less than half the cost out of local timber from trees felled by the tsunami . The administration has brought in these pre-fabs to line up pockets of mainland contractors . Huge cuts are involved," alleged Rashid Yusuf , spokesperson of the Nicobar tribal council at Nancowrie Islands.

Most houses in the archipelago are built of stilts and with wood. "The pre-fab houses will cost nearly 800,000 rupees each . Our people could have constructed their houses in traditional style at half that money and kept the rest of the money as savings," said Ayesha Majid , chairman of the Nicobarese tribal council." And we would have finished the construction at half the time."

The Andaman-Nicobar administration however claims that the "design of the permanent shelters have been drawn up in consultation with the local people."

The administration's website claims that "prototypes were set up in the islands that were accepted by beneficiarcies " .

But though the Indian federal government sanctioned 3452 crores (how many dollars) for rehabilitating the tsunami victims of the Andamans , reports of large scale corruption have been reported in resettling the victims.

Ridiculously low payments, some as low as two Indian rupees, were made to some victims who had lost houses and other sources of livelihoods.

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