Diglipur (325 Kms., approx. 12 hrs by road from Port Blair) Situated in North Andaman Island, Diglipur provides a rare experience for eco friendly tourists. It is famous for its oranges, rice and marine life. Saddle Peak the highest point in the islands is nearby. Kalpong, the only river of Andaman flows here. The only Hydro-electric project of the islands is on this river. One can feel the innocent beauty of village life everywhere in Diglipur.
North Andaman houses green tropical forests, world class beaches and turtle nesting sites (Smith & Ross Island, Elizabeth Bay, RamNagar), Highest Peak of the islands - Saddle Peak, and rare attractions like the Mud Volcanoes (at Shyam Nagar, Hathi Level) and Swiflet Cave (at Pathilevel). Diglipur is the name of a Tehsil. It is the local administrative and economic centre of North Andaman.
The entry into Diglipur is primarily from Port Blair. Diglipur Township is 325 km from Port Blair by Andaman Trunk Road and 100 nautical miles (~185 km) by sea route. Tourists can directly sail to Diglipur by ship and alternatively can travel to Diglipur by road, crossing two creeks on the way connecting Baratang Island and Middle Andaman Island. Helicopter services are also available from Port Blair.
Private (Anand/Geetanjali etc.) and Government operated bus services (STS -State Transport Service) are available for Diglipur from Port Blair. The road journey of 330 km takes a total of around 11 hours! In 2002 a 0.5 km long bridge Austin Bridge was inaugurated connecting the creek between Mayabunder (end of Middle Andaman) and North Andaman Island which has reduced the traveling time (else it was 15 hours in past from Port Blair). In past when there was no bridge a 2 hour slow ferry operated between Mayabunder jetty and a small creek named Kalighat in North Andaman.
Activities : Boat Rides, Turtle Nesting, Sun Basking, Wildlife Research, Bird Watching
What to wear : Cotton outfits, Hats, sunglasses, sunscreen lotion
Mode of Transportation : Bus, Car, Ship, Helicopter
Departure / Return Location Port Blair, Rangat, Mayabunder
In 1792 after two years (1792) the settlement at Chatham Island was shifted to North Andaman and named as Port Cornwallis (Near Current Day Aerial Bay in North Andaman). Soon the North Andaman settlement at Port Cornwallis was abandoned in 1796 due to health issues of the settlement population. Port Cornwaliis kept a low profile with few naval ships visiting seldom, till the british re-settlement in 1858. Post Indian independence, the refugees from mainland India were settled in 1953 under colonisation schemes of Govt. of India
North Andaman is spread across 65 villages and 13 Gram Panchayats. Many of the villages have extended beyond their demarcated areas due to illegal encroachment.
Population : During 1956, 263 Bengali-Malyali settler families arrived at North Andaman families from erstwhile East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh) and Kerala. Subsequently few more Tamil, Bengali, Telugu and families from Bihar arrived in 1959, 1960 and 1961.
| More about settlers | Cultivation and Fisheries are the two primary occupations of people in this island.
Smith and Ross Islands are sister islands separated by a bar of sand. During high tide the sandbar submerges under water and the two islands appears separate. The beach at this location is rated number one among all the existing beaches of Andaman Islands. The Ross Island of the Smith-Ross duo is often confused with the famous colonial colony at Ross Island near Port Blair. Smith and Ross offers a virgin beach followed by a tropical forest. Ross and Smith Island is a 20 minutes (distance 5 km) boat ride from Aerial Bay jetty is an ideal spot for Beach tourism, Adventure (trekking through tropical forest), Research / Education (like scuba diving, snorkeling, turtle nesting). The 450 metre long sand bar joining Smith and adjoining Ross island is the main attraction.
Smith Island also houses a small village of about 60 families. Smith Island beach is notified for Turtle nesting during seasons
Saddle peak is the highest point (732 metres) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The trek to the Peak which offers an aerial view of North Andaman is about 8 km long from the park entrance at Lamiya Bay / Kalipur. The initial stretch of 3 km runs along the coastline. Saddle Peak National Park is a dense tropical forest housing a rich bank of exquisite trees, (including sandal), rare flora and wild fruits and offering trekking opportunities including climbing up natural steps formed by the roofs of old trees.
There are 3 peaks in the park 1) Saddle Peak 2) the second peak named Ice degree peak 3) Unnamed point which provides a aerial view of Diglipur to Mayabunder.
The Peaks are notified as Saddle Peak National park in 1979. The park is uninhabited and not frequented by trekkers. At Every 500 meter, Forest department has built hutments with benches. Due to humid weather the trek is tiresome and it is advisable to start it early in the morning. As there are no shops on the way necessary refreshments needs to carried.
The beach lies around 3 kilometers ahead of Kalipur beach (and 25 Km from Diglipur Bazaar) and lies at the foothill of Saddle Peak, the highest peak of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Lamiya Bay is also locally called "Lemiyar Bay". This beautiful beach has a long stretch of beach covered with shells and fine polished pebbles and it is also a known turtle-nesting site. The Andaman Administartion has constructed eco-friendly huts and a Watch Tower for the tourists.
Mutiple streams of fresh water orginating out of the Saddle peak hill end near the beach in the foothills of Saddle Peak National Park.
Mud Volcano at Diglipur : The mud volcanoes at North Andaman are described by locals as better than that found in Baratang Islands. The mud volcanoes at North Andaman are located at Jal Tikry near Hathi level around 20 kilometers from Diglipur Bazaar (direction towards Laxmipur).
20 kms from Diglipur there are a chain of Mud volcanoes could be witnessed in the green jungle.One has to trek for 15 minutes in the semi-evergreen forests to reach Mud volcano. At the initial point, bigger and dormant mud volcano can be sighted. On proceeding further for few minutes fresh emerging mud volcanoes could be seen. Information boards are provided for visitors.
kalipur Beach also home to thousands of turtles during their nesting period. During the winter months of Dec/Jan, turtle nesting takes place in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
RamNagar Beach, beyond Kalighat is a popular beach destination. . This beach is suitable for swimming and sun basking. A nature trail for trekkers is an added attraction. This beach is well known for turtle nesting. Eco-friendly beach facilities like eco-huts, benches and seating arrangements have been provided.
An hour trek through the RamNagar jungle leads to a cluster of 41 caves. These caves are den for rare edible nest producing swiftlets (Collocacia f. inexpectata) and fruit eating bats. Best time to visit the caves is from December to March. The caves with a very narrow entrance, open up into chain of deep caves inside. Only a handful of the 41 caves are accesssible easily.
Elizabeth Bay is located to the west of North Andaman and is reachable by boat from Radhanagar Creek. It is also possible to walk upto the Bay amid the jungles with the help of a local guide. Elizabeth Bay has a beautiful cresentric shaped beach and surely is one of the best beaches in Andaman Islands. So far the Government has done nothing to promote this beautiful location on earth. The local residents dont even know the the official name of the place but they do know it by its local name "Bees Family" or "20 Family". The human settlement at this place still has a status of encroached land.
Elizabeth Bay at North Andaman was in international media in October 2012 when a group of 41 short-finned pilot whales beached near Elizabeth Bay.
Media coverage:
Multipurpose Farm at Keralapuram is developed and maintained by the Department of Agriculture. It showcases all the locally available fruits, flowers and vegetables. Beautiful Orchids, Apiary and GreenHouses are also demonstrated. Various seeds and seedlings are sold at the Depot outlet of the farm. Its a must visit for the Tourists with interest in Botany. The farm is one among the 33 Farms / Plantations units managed by the Department of Agriculture in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The local farmers are provided training on agriculture techniques from time to time at this place.
Media Coverage:
Kalpong Hydroelectricity Project (KHEP) is built on the catchment area of the only perenial river of the Andaman Islands "Kalpong river" at North Andaman. The approach gate for the Project is situated on the way to Kalighat creek and Ramnagar near Kalara village. It is built by National Hydel Power Corporation and is the only Hydroelectricity Power Project at Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The total length of the KHEP dam is 146 metres. The project with a capacity of 5.25 MW started power distribution in the North Andaman areas from June 2002.
The tourist season in North Andaman [Diglipur] is between the months of November and March in a year. The present tourist inflow in a season is an estimated 1500 only of which ~90% are domestic tourists and the rest foreign nationals. The average stay period of a foreign tourist is put at 10 days to a fortnight and the same drops to 1-3 days in case of a domestic tourist.
Where to stay : Turtle Resort (Kalipur, Govt. owned), Pristine beach resort (Kalipur), Drua lodge, Bepari lodge, APWD Guest House
Attractions :
Kalipur Beach , at a distance of 18 km from Diglipur, offers a combination of
sand and rock shores with fishing village nearby. Lamiya Bay is quite near the
Kalipur beach.
Kalighat Creek, on the way from Diglipur to Mayabunder offers a breathtaking view of the mangroves / equatorial forest
Power supply to this island is from the 5.5 MW hydro electric project of NHPC. The present power supply situation is satisfactory with occasional power cuts due to stabilisation problems in the plant. The present capacity is said to be sufficient to meet the power requirements of Diglipur, Mayabunder and Rangat islands. The Kalpong River project has a 34- metre high concrete dam on the left fork of the river Kalpong which is seen in this photograph here, a 25-metre high rock-fill dam on the right fork, 257-metre-long in-take approach channel, and a 133-metre long in-take tunnel.The Kalpong river traverses in the northward direction for a length of about 35 kilometres before it joins the Aerial Bay Creek on the east coast near Diglipur
Water supply is from the perennial Kalpong river, the only river in the whole of A&N islands. The water supply situation is satisfactory till date. However, construction of dam for hydro electric project has raised concerns on sustainability of maintaining the present water supply levels.
Healthcare: Almost all the healthcare delivery is done by Government
centers :
Community Health Centre : 1 (at Diglipur)
Primary Health Centres (PHC) : 3 (Kalighat, KishoriNagar and Radhanagar | One PHC is proposed in Kalipur)
Health Sub Centre : 14
Dispensary 1
North Andaman island is 185 km (~100 nautical miles) by sea from Port Blair and shipping services are available from Aerial Bay jetty. The travel time is about 12-16 hours.
Local travel in North Andaman : For local travel STS buses (Govt.) and private buses are available. The public transport services are available between 04:30 hrs. and 19:30 hours. There are also about 45 autos and few jeeps/Omni Vans as an alternative of public transport on the island. Fishermen doongis (locally called donghy, dinghy/machine donghy) are available for inter-island travel. Charges for these doongis have to be negotiated. Doongis may not be to everyone's liking as they are uncomfortable and makes a loud monotonous noise. They are usually open-top and without any life rafts or jackets and therefore unsafe for sea travel as well.
Villages in North Andaman :Sl.No | Village Name | Village Type |
---|---|---|
01 | Shyam Nagar | Revenue Village |
02 | Radha Nagar | Revenue Village |
03 | Swarajgram | Revenue Village |
04 | Milangram | Revenue Village |
05 | Laxmipur | Revenue Village |
06 | Madhupur | Revenue Village |
07 | Krishnapuri | Revenue Village |
08 | Deshbandhugram | Revenue Village |
09 | Subashgram | Revenue Village |
10 | Rabindrapalli | Revenue Village |
11 | Diglipur | Revenue Village |
12 | Ramakrishnagram | Revenue Village |
13 | Vidhyasagarpalli | Revenue Village |
14 | Sitanagar | Revenue Village |
15 | Keralapuram | Revenue Village |
16 | Aerial Bay | Revenue Village |
17 | Durgapur | Revenue Village |
18 | Nabagram | Revenue Village |
19 | Parangara | Revenue Village |
20 | Kishorinagar | Revenue Village |
21 | Shibpur | Revenue Village |
22 | Kalipur | Revenue Village |
23 | Khudirampur | Revenue Village |
24 | Madhyamgram | Revenue Village |
25 | Nischintapur | Revenue Village |
26 | Ramnagar | Revenue Village |
27 | Kalighat | Revenue Village |
28 | Jaganath Dera | Revenue Village |
29 | Borang | Revenue Village |
30 | Mohanpur | Revenue Village |
31 | Gandhi Nagar | Forest Beat |
32 | Rahil | Forest Dev. Corpn. Area |
33 | Pilone Nallaha | Forest Dev. Corpn. Area |
34 | Haran Nallaha | Encroached Forest Area |
35 | Paschimsagar | Encroached Forest Area |
36 | Talbagan | Encroached Forest Area |
37 | Lamiya Bay | Encroached Forest Area |
38 | Baskata Nallah | Encroached Forest Area |
39 | Mutha Nallaha | Encroached Forest Area |
40 | Bali Nallaha | Encroached Forest Area |
41 | Bamboo Nallaha | Encroached Forest Area |
42 | Srinagar | Encroached Forest Area |
43 | Gunna Level | Encroached Forest Area |
44 | Naranyan Tikri | Encroached Forest Area |
45 | Nakuldanga | Encroached Forest Area |
46 | Hathi Level | Encroached Forest Area |
47 | Bara Dabla | Encroached Forest Area |
48 | Hoari Bay | Encroached Forest Area |
49 | Ganna Dabla | Encroached Forest Area |
50 | Hara Tikry | Encroached Forest Area |
51 | Austin II | Encroached Forest Area |
52 | Karen Basti | Encroached Forest Area |
53 | Elezebeth Bay | Encroached Forest Area |
54 | Beach Dera | Encroached Forest Area |
55 | Coffee Dera | Encroached Forest Area |
56 | Bandhan Nallaha | Encroached Forest Area |
57 | Haridas Kattai | Encroached Forest Area |
58 | Ganesh Nagar | Encroached Forest Area |
59 | Amber Chad | Encroached Forest Area |
60 | Santi Nagar | Encroached Forest Area |
61 | Burmachad | Encroached Forest Area |
62 | Pemaiahdera | Forest Dev. Corpn. Area |
63 | Aam Tikry | Forest Dev. Corpn. Area |
64 | Austin Creek | Forest Plantation Dev. Corpn. Area |
65 | Austin IX | Forest Camp |
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