Road to ruin: remote tribes of Andaman Islands under threat from Indian highway

It runs from north to south for more than 200 miles, cutting a swathe through one of India's most pristine landscapes.

Built to speed development on the remote Andaman Islands, little thought was given to the impact the road would have on the secretive, little-contacted Jarawa people, through whose territory it slices. Six years ago, India's Supreme Court ordered the road to be closed in order to protect those indigenous people from the influence of the outside world.

But far from closing the road, the authorities have watched as its use has greatly increased. Now, figures collated by campaigners reveal the number of vehicles on the Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) has more than doubled, from 17,315 in 2001 to 37,505 in 2006. A total of 27,674 vehicles travelled the road in the first seven months of 2007 alone.

"No one thinks about the tribal people," said Samir Acharya, the founder of the Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology (Sane), which has called for the road to be closed. "It's like having a public road running through your bedroom."

Work on the ATR started in the 1960s to link South Andaman, where the territory's capital, Port Blair, is located, with Middle and North Andaman. Until its completion, people were forced to get about using boats, as most people in the archipelago of islands located in the Andaman Sea continue to do. The road has enabled economic development and easier access to the area's natural resources.

But campaigners have long argued that the road has imperilled the Jarawa, an indigenous people about which relatively little is known, by bringing in settlers, poachers and alcohol. Concern about the impact on the Jarawa increased in the late 1990s when – in an unexplained shift in their behaviour – tribe members began seeking contact with outsiders. In the aftermath, the tribe suffered two outbreaks of measles.

Campaigners believed they secured a victory in 2002 when India's Supreme Court ruled that the road should be closed. As recently as last year, the UN urged India to follow the court's instructions. But despite such pressure, the authorities have refused to close the ATR and have appealed against the ruling.

Pankaj Sekhsaria, a member of the environmental group Kalpavriksh and the author of Troubled Island, a book about the plight of the tribes, said: "It's an indication that even a court order is not enough if there is not the will to enforce the decision. Historically, the road has been the key factor bringing outside influences into the tribal areas ... It is the first point of entry."

The Jarawa, estimated to be just 250 to 350 strong, are one of several indigenous hunter-gatherer groups of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located 750 miles from the Indian mainland. Today, the Onge tribe number fewer than 100 and live on a small reserve, while the Great Andamanese total just 50.

Meanwhile the Sentinelese, who live on the island of North Sentinel, continue to resist all efforts at communication by the outside world. In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, one of the tribe was famously photographed aiming a bow and arrow at an emergency helicopter. Two fishermen were killed by the tribe for entering its waters in 2006. The Indian government's official policy is to make no further contact with them.

Campaigners say the Jarawa have not been so lucky. Although all traffic through their territory travels in a convoy that is not supposed to stop, cars often "break-down" for the benefit of tourists. A number of hotel chains have reportedly bought plots in the area around the tribe's reserve.

Stephen Cory, the director of the London-based group Survival International, which collected the recent vehicle figures, said: "As more and more people travel through the heart of the Jarawas' land, the threat to their survival becomes ever more severe. If the Indian government is serious about preventing the extinction of yet another tribe, it must close the road."

The authorities on Andaman insist they are trying to balance the desire for development and preservation. They say they have recently imposed a further buffer zone around the reserve, in which no economic activity is permitted.

"[But] we have appealed against the court order," said Shyami Sodhi, the island administration's secretary of tribal welfare. "The road is a lifeline that links the South Andaman with the Middle and North. If you close it, how will the settlers get here?"

The fate of other uncontacted tribes

PERU

Last year, the first photograph was taken of indigenous people believed to be members of the Mascho Piro, a tribe that shuns the outside world but which is under threat from oil exploration. Previous encounters with uncontacted Peruvian tribes have been disastrous. More than half of the Murunahua tribe, who came into contact with loggers in the mid-1990s, are reported to have died from such simple ailments as the common cold.

BRAZIL

Eight members of the Javari Indian tribe recently died as a result of a surge in cases of malaria and hepatitis in their region. Campaigners say there were inadequate medical resources to treat the sick tribespeople.

PARAGUAY

The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode people are constantly forced to relocate within the dwindling tract of their homeland as a result of encroachment by developers.