Katchal (
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
: कत्चल,
Nicobarese: तिहन्यु, ''Tihnyu'') is one of the
Nicobar Islands
The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
History
Katchal Island was previously known as Tihanyu.
Due to the remote location and lack of exposure with the rest of the world, outsiders economically exploited the innocent islanders for a long time. To stop their economic exploitation, the Government of India declared the Nicobar Islands an Aboriginal Tribal Reserve Area (ATRA) on 2 April 1957. This made the Nicobar Islands inaccessible to outsiders and currently even Indian nationals need a special tribal pass to visit the islands. Only Government Servants (outsiders) posted to Katchal Islands are allowed to stay in the island.
Nicobar Islands
The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...
have experienced all kinds of external influences for centuries, because they are located along an ancient international sea trade route and have been known to voyagers and scholars since ancient times. Due to this, the islands have been receiving external influences, which have affected their culture and race over the centuries. According to recent history, an archeological inscription dating to AD 1059 says that
Nicobar was part of the overseas kingdom of Tamil
Chola
The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...
King of
Tanjore
Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore,#Pletcher, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian c ...
. In 1869, the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
took possession of the Nicobar Islands from the
Danes
Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
History
Early history
Denmark ...
and made them a part of modern India.
At sunrise on 1 January 2000, Katchal Island was in the news. Many voyagers had converged on it for a glimpse of the millennium's first sunrise.
Katchal was one of the worst affected islands during the
December 26th 2004 Tsunami. The tsunami devastated the Island, disturbing the socio-economic set-up of its inhabitants. Of the 5,000 people missing (5000 is official - actual is more) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 1,549 were believed to be from Katchal.
To support the local population a sizable number of Govt. Staffs were posted to this Island prior to the
Tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
day. Most of the staff went missing as majority of the Govt. provided Staff Quarters were situated very close to the sea shore and a very few managed to escape to the nearby hill. To cite an example - not a single teacher out of 47 posted here prior on 26-12-2004 was found alive.
Some people managed to escape the waters by clinging over to
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
tree tops. Of the 344 people reported dead, only one body could be identified. Either the bodies were decomposed beyond recognition or there were no survivors to claim them.
Geography
Its area is .
It is approximately away from mainland (India) and south to capital
Port Blair
Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...
.
The highest peak of Katchal is high.
The hills of Katchal are composed of
calcareous
Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines.
In zoology
''Calcare ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
and
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
slates, and in the
tropical forest
Tropical forests are forested ecoregions with tropical climates – that is, land areas approximately bounded by the Tropic of Cancer, tropics of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing ...
of Katchal there are many
pythons, black
monkeys
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
and
pigs
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
.
Demography
Katchal Island is home to both indigenous and non-indigenous people.
Katchal is inhabited by Nicobari Tribes and Migrated
Tamilians (For Rubber plantation workers under
Sastri-Srimao Bandaranayaka Pact of 1964).
After the tsunami almost all the tribal chiefs and their heirs were killed, leaving the tribes virtually headless.
Katchal is the largest island of the central group of islands and had 35 villages (of which six were main villages). After the tsunami, the natives regrouped and formed five tribal villages in the island viz.
E-Wall,
Meenakshi Ram Nagar,
Japan Tikrey,
Sallo Tikrey, and
Upper Katchal.
Mildera is another village in the island inhabited by non tribal people (Tamil repatriates and Ranchi communities).
Languages spoken in Katchal are
Nicobarese,
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
,
Telugu and
Santali.
Administration
Katchal Island belongs to the
township
A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
of
Nancowry of
Katchal tehsil.
The Island is not open to tourists and special permission is required from the local administration at Port Blair.
Facilities
These are the facilities on the island:
Health:
Primary Health Center: 1
Secondary Health Center: 3
Education:
Primary School - 6 ( Kindergarten to 5th Standard),
Middle School - 2 ( 6th to 8th Standard),
Senior Secondary School - 1 (11th to 12th Standard)
Govt.:
Water supply is adequate and sufficient.
Power station which is electrified and has plans to augment the DG (Diesel Generators) capacity at Katchal Islands by 3x128 KW DG Sets.
9 km of roads (Pucca road).
Police Station:1
Katchal
Jetty: 1, A Berthable Jetty at Nirma Nagar
Communication: Wireless Local Loop Phones and PSTN phones. Mobile phone signal strength is currently very low.
Information Technology: Connected by VSAT under E-Governance project of A & N Administration for speeding up the developmental works and effective monitoring.
Economics
According to initial estimates, 112 hectares (277 acres) of land has been rendered useless due to salination after the tsunami, and 3.54 lakh coconut and an equal number of Supari (betel nut) trees destroyed.
Currently, The villagers are engaged in coconut, betelnut
The areca nut ( or ) or betel nut () is the fruit of the areca palm (''Areca catechu''). The palm is originally native to the Philippines, but was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian expansion, Austronesian migrations and ...
and arecanut trade. In 1968, rubber plantation and subsequently red oil palm plantation were established here.
Flora and fauna
Birds found:
* White-rumped munia
* Indian white-eye
* Red-whiskered bulbul
*Orange thrush
* Grey wagtail
* Purple-rumped sunbird
*Asian paradise flycatcher
* Emerald dove
* White-breasted sea eagle
* Pied triller
* Shikra
* Long-tailed parakeet
* White-collared kingfisher
* Black-naped oriole
* Black-naped monarch
*Brown shrike
The brown shrike (''Lanius cristatus'') is a bird in the shrike family that is found mainly in Asia. It is closely related to the red-backed shrike (''L. collurio'') and isabelline shrike (''L. isabellinus''). The genus name, ''Lanius'', is deriv ...
* Pied imperial pigeon
* Pacific reef egret
* Plume-toed swiftlet
* Andaman green pigeon
Image gallery
File:Map of Nicobar Islands-en.png, Map
File:KatchalIslandMap.jpg, 1990 Map of Katchal Island
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katchal Island
Teressa Taluk
Islands of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Nicobar district
Nicobar Islands
Populated places in India
Islands of India
Islands of the Bay of Bengal