The economy of the Andaman islands has withered since the forced closure of its massive logging industry two years ago, leaving it struggling to switch gears and find new ways to sustain itself.
Until recently there have been few prospects for development on this remote Indian territory, but a government push could see the islands reap rewards from tourism, agriculture, commercial fishing, and even oil and gas exploration.
The changes can be felt throughout the forest-covered archipelago of over 500 glistening islands in the Bay of Bengal, but perhaps nowhere more poignantly than at the Andamans' Chatham Sawmill, once the largest in Asia.
Founded in 1884, the fortress-like plant in the administrative capital Port Blair in its heyday processed an astonishing volume of hardwoods including padauk, more highly prized even than teak, that were hacked out of the island's forests to feed colonial Britain's construction needs.
"At its peak the mill was working furiously, processing hundreds of tonnes per day," recalled Veera Swamy, who began working at the mill 40 years ago at the tender age of 14.
He now counts himself lucky to have a job at the mill's wood finishing shop, as only a few hundred employees remain on the books from a height of some 5,000.
"Now lots of workers have lost their jobs," he said. The mill was ordered to slash its output to less than one tonne per day after India's Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling banning commercial logging.
Three other major sawmills and up to 40 smaller units also went out of business, and with several other services like shipping inextricably linked to the industry, some 25,000 to 30,000 people were eventually put out of work.
"All of this has greatly affected the Andaman economy," said Mohamed Jadwet, president of the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Today Jadwet sees the territory as a subsidised state, so dependent on financial infusions from the mainland that nine of every 10 revenue dollars comes from national coffers.
"The government feels the Andamans is a small child that needs to be cared for," Jadwet said.
Like many of the residents on this island chain with a population of 356,000, Jawdet says he would love the Andamans economy to mature into a self-sustaining entity, but he acknowledges it isn't possible yet.
"There is no economic viability right now," he said. "People here are doing well, but only because they're living on a dole from the centre (government) to the islands."
India's subsidy is substantial. Jadwet put the annual budget for Andamans assistance at 10 billion rupees (228 million dollars), working out to about 640 dollars per person.
Additionally, up to 30,000 people are directly employed by the government, leaving virtually one quarter of all island families wholly dependent on government funds.
Hardly everyone is thriving, however. While begging is all but non-existent here - a rare achievement in India - one well-placed official in the Andaman administration said unemployment is topping 40,000.
Infrastructure in the Andamans is showing the strain. Roads are in poor shape, inter-island ferries are slow and unreliable, air connectivity is dire, and visitors require travel permits. Port Blair, a city of over 150,000 people, has a single automatic teller machine.
"We have a long way to go," Jadwet said.
The business environment is also severely lacking.
"In the private sector (in mainland India) we've gone from Stone Age to totally with it in just two or three years, but not here," said Siddharth Krishnamurthi, director of operations for the Barefoot Group, a development firm seeking to build eco-friendly resorts in the Andamans.
"This is a huge country," he said. "Things move slowly."
All that may change if the islands' top official Lieutenant Governor Ram Kapse has his way.
"There are 350,000 people staying here," Kapse told reporters. "They are farmers, workers, traders, teachers, government servants. We have to look after them. It seems they are cut off from the mainland of India."
Speaking at a ceremony commemorating the first international air links to Port Blair, twice-weekly charter flights from the Thai capital Bangkok, Kapse said India was eager to promote the newly identified sectors for Andaman development.
"There are so many things going on here. International tourism, another is fishing which we are developing, and the petroleum department is searching for oil, gas and other things." The Andamans has major fishing potential, say officials. But the industry is a fraction of what it could be mainly because the Indian population consists largely of non-coastal mainlanders, refugees and farmers.
"The fish die of old age here," locals quip.
With a spectacular ecosystem, miles of unspoiled whitesand beaches, and some of the world's finest unexplored dive sites, the future prosperity of the Andamans may rest with its tourism industry.
But Jadwet said growth would always be severely hampered by two major constraints: a powerful environmental lobby, and a strong military presence.
The Andamans and the adjacent Nicobars, a collection of islands to the south which are off limits to foreigners, are home to six aborignal tribes, including two of the most isolated human communities on earth.
The government has set aside hundreds of square kilometres for them as tribal preserves, while protecting 86 percent of all Andaman and Nicobar land as national forest.
Military sensitivities also abound as India has made Port Blair a naval headquarters and based more than 5,000 sailors here. The decision was made in order to extend India's blue water reach, and also in recognition of the strategic importance of the Andamans in the Bay of Bengal.
"The environmental lobby and defence are important for this place," Jadwet said, "but they are pulling the islands back as far as economic development is concerned."
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