National

Going Blue In The Gills

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Going Blue In The Gills
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They point out that only children born after 1999 have contracted measles, so it’s apparent that the immunisation programme of the Directorate of Medical Services has been an utter failure. In fact, they allege that the vaccination programmes, in the name of ‘measured intervention’ to protect the tribals from ‘foreign diseases’, has only weakened the Jarawas’ immunity. Also, the Jarawa children affected by the measles outbreak live alongside or close to the Andaman Truck Road—now being widened in flagrant violation of a 2002 Supreme Court order asking the Andaman & Nicobar government to close the road since it cuts through tropical rainforests. Activists say the road-widening programme, leading to a large influx of outsiders into Jarawa territory, has led to the measles outbreak.

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They also fear the road will now provide easier access to outsiders into the forests—in short, to large-scale timber theft and environmental degradation.

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