Context: A plan for the sustainable and holistic development of the 680 sq. km, fragile Little Andaman Island in the Andaman and Nicobar group has raised alarm among conservationists.

Details:

• The ‘Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island - Vision Document’, is the NITI Aayog’s proposal to leverage the strategic location and natural features of the island.
• This will be done by building a new Greenfield coastal city there that will be developed as a free trade zone and will compete with Singapore and Hong Kong.
• The proposal is pivoted along three development anchors and zones.
• Zone 1 — spread over 102 sq. km along the east coast of Little Andaman — will be the financial district and media city and will include an aerocity, and a tourism and hospital district.
• Spread over 85 sq. km of pristine forest, Zone 2, the leisure zone, will have a film city, a residential district and a tourism SEZ.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/a-bullet-through-an-islands-heart/article33712830.ece

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