Narcondam Island

Etymology

The name Narcondam could have been derived from the Tamil word naraka-kundam, meaning "a pit of Hell," although this may be the result of confusion between it and Barren Island.

History

Until 1986 Burma claimed sovereignty over the island. This claim was given up on reaching agreement with India on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two nations in the Andaman Sea, the Coco channel and the Bay of Bengal. There is a lighthouse on the slopes of narcondam, established 1983.

Geography

The island is lying 256 km (159 mi) northeast from Port Blair. Further to the south west (approximately 150 km) lies the active volcano island of Barren Island. Narcondam Island is about 160 miles from Burma, and is almost 800 miles from Vishakhapatnam (part of the mainland of India). It belongs to the East Volcano Islands. The island is small, having an area of 7.63 km² (2.95 sq mi). The island is largely forested. The island is formed from a volcano, which had not known to have been active in recent times, until on June 8, 2005 there were reports of "mud and smoke" being ejected from the volcano. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake is thought to have caused magma to move underground and may be related to the current activity. If the reports were accurate this would alter the scientific status of Narcondam to active. Narcondam Island holds the easternmost point of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Narcondam Mountain

Narcondam Island's volcanic mountain, at 710 meters is the second tallest point in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the first being Saddle Peak, North Andaman Island at 752 meters.

Administration

Narcondam Island belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, and is part of Diglipur Taluk. The village is near the Police station.

Transportation

Ferry service is available from Diglipur. Normally ship is available once a week, only authorized by police.

Demographics

There is only 1 village. According to the 2011 census of India, the Island has 1 households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 100%.

The 16 residents (all supervisory police personnel) are all living in a single household on the northeast corner. They harvest coconuts and bananas on a small plantation near the post.

Scuba diving at Narcondam

The waters surrounding Narcondam Island are a diving destination. Narcondam's prime dive sites include rocky ridges and steep slopes like Chimneys, Ooh La La and Lighthouse Reef, where massive barrel sponges, huge gorgonian fans and lush soft corals thrive. Fish life can include Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish and mantas, as well as occasional whitetip and gray reef sharks. Another special place is HQ Pinnacle, where a submerged rock formation acts as a magnet for dogtooth tuna and hundreds of bigeye trevally. For a more tranquil setting, several bays around the island offer gently sloping terrain populated with fields of hard corals and colorful reef fish.

The island is very remote and diving is accessible only via a live-aboard.

Fauna

Narcondam is a tiny volcanic island, not connected to land mass, terrestrial mammalian fauna is absent. However, Nicobar Flying Fox Pteropus faunulus and Narcondam Small Flying Fox Pteropus hypomelanus are the most common mammals on this island. Among reptiles, Andaman Dwarf Gecko Cnemaspis kandiana, widely distributed in Andaman and Malay Archipelago, is also found on Narcondam Island. The Andaman Day Gecko Phelsuma andamanense, is also restricted in distribution to the Andaman group (Daniel 2002). The Common Amphibious Sea Snake Laticauda laticaudata, confined to the Bay of Bengal and Nicobar Island, is seen here, while the Andaman Water Monitor Varanus salvator andamanensis is the only large predator on the island and is a threat to the Narcondam Hornbill, especially its young ones. As Narcondam Island is remote and difficult to reach, there have been only eight visits by ornithologists to date: Osmaston (1905), Baker (1927), Abdulali (1971,1974), Hussain (1984), Vijayan and Sankaran, (2000) and Yahya and Zarri (2000, 2002a).

Narcondam Island Wildlife Sanctuary

Narcondam Island Wildlife Sanctuary is notified as a protected reserve by the government of India. It is also listed on the UNESCO's tentative Lists of World Heritage Sites. The island was notified as a sanctuary to protect and monitor the globally Threatened and highly endemic Narcondam Hornbill Aceros narcondami, which is restricted to this tiny island.

Narcondam hornbill

The Narcondam hornbill is an endangered hornbill that is endemic to the island of Narcondam. This bird is said to have evolved separately from the wreathed hornbill found in North-East India.

Flora

Narcondam Island is almost entirely covered with Evergreen and Moist Deciduous forest. Grassy slopes dominate the southern and southeast aspects of the hill (BirdLife International 2001). The island is covered with Tropical Evergreen forest, Semievergreen forest, Moist Deciduous forest, Littoral forest and Mangrove forest (Pande et al. 1991). The island bears old, dead and decaying trees, interlaced with thorny creepers and luxuriantly flowering tall trees (Yahya and Zarri 2002a). The flora on the higher reaches of the hill is mostly evergreen and consists of Dipterocarpus, Sideroxylon and Ficus trees. However, some deciduous species (Bombax insigne) are also present. The vegetation towards the summit is mostly Moist Evergreen with several epiphytes. The lower hills following the shoreline have both deciduous and evergreen trees such as Terminalia catappa, T. bialata and Caryota mitis. The shoreline has some introduced species such as coconut and banana.

Radar station

The Indian Coast Guard proposed the construction of a coastal surveillance radar installation on Narcondum Island and had requested for the release of 0.64 ha of forest area for the purpose. This was turned down by the MOEF of UPA govt as it would endanger the population of endemic hornbills while other alternative sites existed for the siting of the radar. As of 10 June 2014, MOEF has given clearance for the Radar station. Union minister for environment and forests, Prakash Javadekar gave the approval.