Katchal Island was previously known as Tihanyu. Due to the remote location and lack of exposure with the rest of the world, outsiders economically exploited the innocent islanders for a long time. To stop their economic exploitation, the Government of India declared the Nicobar Islands an Aboriginal Tribal Reserve Area on 2 April 1957. This made the Nicobar Islands inaccessible to outsiders and currently even Indian nationals need a special tribal pass to visit the islands. Only Government Servants posted to Katchal Islands are allowed to stay in the Island. Nicobar Islands have experienced all kinds of external influences for centuries, because they are located along an ancient international sea trade route and have been known to voyagers and scholars since ancient times. Due to this, the islands have been receiving external influences, which have affected their culture and race over the centuries. According to recent history, an archeological inscription dating to AD 1059 says that Nicobar was part of the overseas kingdom of TamilChola King of Tanjore. In 1869, the British took possession of the Nicobar Islands from the Danes and made them a part of modern India. At sunrise on 1 January 2000, Katchal Island was in the news. Many rich and famous people from around the world had converged on it for a glimpse of the millennium's first sunrise. Katchal was one of the worst affected islands during the December 26th 2004 Tsunami. The tsunami devastated the Island, disturbing the socio-economic set-up of its inhabitants. Of the 5,000 people missing in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 1,549 were believed to be from Katchal. To support the local population a sizable number of Govt. Staffs were posted to this Island prior to the Tsunami day. Most of the staff went missing as majority of the Govt. provided Staff Quarters were situated very close to the sea shore and a very few managed to escape to the nearby hill. To cite an example - not a single teacher out of 47 posted here prior to 26-11-2004 were found alive. Some people managed to escape the waters by clinging over to coconut tree tops. Of the 344 people reported dead, only one body could be identified. Either the bodies were decomposed beyond recognition or there were no survivors to claim them.
Katchal Island is home to both indigenous and non-indigenous people. Katchal is inhabited by Nicobari Tribes and Migrated Tamilians. After the tsunami almost all the tribal chiefs and their heirs were killed, leaving the tribes virtually headless. Katchal is the largest island of the central group of islands and had 35 villages. After the tsunami, the natives regrouped and formed five tribal villages in the island viz. E-Wall, Meenakshi Ram Nagar, Japan Tikrey, Sallo Tikrey, and Upper Katchal. Mildera is another village in the island inhabited by non tribal people. Languages spoken in Katchal are Nicobarese, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Santali.
These are the facilities on the island: Health: Primary Health Center: 1 Secondary Health Center: 3 Education: Primary School - 6, Middle School - 2, Senior Secondary School - 1 Govt.: Water supply is adequate and sufficient. Power station which is electrified and has plans to augment the DG capacity at Katchal Islands by 3x128 KW DG Sets. 9 km of roads. Police Station:1 Jetty: 1, A Berthable Jetty at Nirma Nagar Communication: Wireless Local Loop Phones and PSTN phones. Mobile phone signal strength is currently very low. Information Technology: Connected by VSAT under E-Governance project of A & N Administration for speeding up the developmental works and effective monitoring.
Economics
According to initial estimates, 112 hectares of land has been rendered useless due to salination after the tsunami, and 3.54 lakh coconut and an equal number of Supari trees destroyed. Currently, The villagers are engaged in coconut, betelnut and arecanut trade. In 1968, rubber plantation and subsequently red oil palm plantation were established here.
