There are very few places in the world which can be conferred with “bragging rights”, but the Andaman & Nicobar islands can confidently claim this honour.  I was posted there for four years and hence I had the opportunity to study the islands. 

Andaman & Nicobar is God’s own country with gin clear water, thick verdant tropical forests, rich marine and mangrove eco-systems, dormant and active volcanoes and ancient tribes living in near total nudity and in complete harmony with nature.  They extract only as much of the natural resources as is absolutely essential for living and nature time for regenerate. 

These islands may be compared to our world as it was during the pre-industrial period three or four hundred years ago, when there was no pressure on natural resources.  Being a small place, one could see and study, almost to a measurable degree, the mounting pressures of modern day commercial enterprise on the beautiful environment which undoubtedly needed protection. 

Towards this end, our hotel, of which I was the general manager, developed a model which focused on four distinct areas. The four ‘R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink systems, procedures and policies for the hotel unit.
 

Water Management 

We had a major water crisis in Port Blair in 1991 when our filtered water supplies were cut down from eight kilolitres to two kilolitres per day.  In order to run our business we had to break our entire pipeline system of galvanised iron and replace it with plastic pipelines (to avoid corrosion) so that the clean salt water from the sea could be used for flushing toilets, thereby reducing the demand on filtered water supplied by the municipality. 

In order to create this awareness our hotel unit started an afforestation programme in Port Blair by planting 1500 saplings in the airport complex.  Since the task was very large and the awareness of the issue very low, we put up hoardings with the message that planting trees was every individual’s and organsiation’s responsibility. 

Today the concept of ‘Debt for Nature’ is being practised in North and South America.  North America has agreed to waive off large amounts of debts if South America retains identified portions of its tropical forest. 

India has approximately 130 million acres of wasteland which if greened can help restore the environment to an extent.  Needless to mention it will provide enormous employment opportunities.  While taking up wasteland greening the local people should not be denied access to the bio-mass needs, their daily fuel requirement.

The idea is to find a way to provide adequate wood base resource for paper manufacturers, match-stick factories, etc. and simultaneously increase the green cover by planting in the so-called wastelands multiple variety of trees thus avoiding monoculture which is not beneficial for the soil in the long run and at the same time cater to the fuel needs of the poor. 

A well was dug in the hotel knowing fully well that we would not get underground water.  However, the intention was to harvest rain water which was utilised in the summer season for gardening. The same example could be extended to our cities which are short of water today. Such harvested water could be used for washing cars, watering the garden or put to any other such use in order to reduce pressure on the supply of precious municipal filtered water.  It must be remembered that water saved is also energy saved.
 

Soil Management 

Our hotel was located on a hill slope and we had a problem of soil erosion.  In order to combat this problem cost effectively, we used coconut coir which was lying on the island as garbage, in the areas where the soil erosion problem existed.  This had two advantages. Coir was bio-degradable and therefore environment-friendly.  It was also finance friendly, as garbage in the form of coconut coir was used for solving the problem in hand.
 

Waste Management 

Our objective was to look at reducing waste.  Normally, when tourists go to other islands in Port Blair for sighseeing, they take packed lunches in cardboard boxes.  We stopped the use of cardboard boxes and started giving packed lunches in steel boxes, which they had to bring back or else a token fine would be levied.  In the bargain recurring costs were wiped off and the garbage level was reduced. 

Used cooking oil was usually thrown into the drain and this enhanced the effluent level.  At the hotel we converted such cooking oil into soap which was used for washing the utensils, thereby reducing the effluents as well as creating a cost advantage as we did not have to purchase washing powder anymore.
 

Paper Conservation 

All odd documents of the accounts department were segregated into benign and confidential lots.  The confidential lot was shredded, mixed with wet garbage and converted into manure for use in the hotel garden.  The other documents were converted into rough pads for internal use.  The paper caps used by chefs were replaced with cloth caps.  The brown paper used as a lining in the drawers of writing desks in every room was replaced with velvet.  The objective was to reduce the usage of paper pulp in order to reduce the pressure on forests which are being deforested at the rate of ‘an acre a second’.  Today the world has only eight percent forest cover.  In India alone, forest extraction is to the tune of Rs. 30,000 crores per annum and only Rs. 800 crores (approximately) is spent on afforestation. Clearly this is the road to ruin.  Unless we take steps, including the ones mentioned above, our environment will degenerate beyond recognition within a matter of years.   q

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