{"id":95509,"date":"2026-03-30T16:25:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T10:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=95509"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T10:55:43","slug":"katchal-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/katchal-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Katchal Island"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>About Katchal Island<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Location &amp; Physical Features:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Katchal Island covers 174.30 sq. km and lies about 418 km from Port Blair. The island has a flat western part and hilly northern\u2013southeastern regions, with a maximum elevation of about 227 m, influencing settlement and disaster vulnerability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Climate:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It has a tropical climate like Great Nicobar, with year-round heat and humidity, heavy monsoon rainfall, and high <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/cyclones\/\" target=\"_blank\">cyclone<\/a><\/strong> risk.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Soil &amp; Water Resources:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Soils include alluvial, sandy, valley, and hilly types, suitable for farming. Water depends on groundwater and rainwater harvesting, but high iron content and coastal salinity affect quality.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Population &amp; Society: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Population is 2,685 (2011), mainly Nicobarese tribe. Languages include Nicobarese, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Santali. Religions include Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Society is simple and nature-dependent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Traditional Knowledge: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indigenous people are skilled in navigation (stars, tides), fishing, cyclone prediction, tool-making, and use medicinal plants for common diseases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Coastal &amp; Marine Features:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Coastline is about 83.3 km, with nearshore depths of 16-20 m. It includes mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass ecosystems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Infrastructure &amp; Connectivity:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Basic facilities (healthcare, schools, bank, police, roads, electricity) are available. Connected to Port Blair by ferry and helicopter; nearest airport is in Port Blair.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Economic Activities:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Agriculture is the main activity (paddy, coconut, areca nut, vegetables, rubber, spices). No major industries; tourism is minimal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Biodiversity &amp; Ecology:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Rich biodiversity with mangroves, littoral forests, and marine life. Key species include crocodiles, dugongs, dolphins, whales, and turtles. It is an ecologically sensitive area with protected habitats.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Natural Hazards:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Highly vulnerable to cyclones, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/earthquake\/\" target=\"_blank\">earthquakes<\/a><\/strong> (Zone V), and tsunamis. The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami caused major loss of life, villages, and ecosystems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Environmental Issues:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Key issues include coastal erosion, land subsidence, and saltwater intrusion affecting land and water resources.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Katchal Island, Nicobar island with rich biodiversity, tribal culture and agriculture; faces cyclone, tsunami risks, coastal erosion and limited infrastructure challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":95348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[4935,5102,6463],"class_list":{"0":"post-95509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-geography","9":"tag-geography-notes","10":"tag-katchal-island","11":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95509"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95628,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95509\/revisions\/95628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}