The Supreme Court has banned all commercial and tourism activities within a five-km radius of the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with a view to protecting the indigenous people.

A Bench of Justices G. S. Singhvi and S. J. Mukhopadhaya on Monday upheld an October 30, 2007 notification declaring an area up to a five-km radius of the Reserve a ‘Buffer Zone’ and prohibiting entry of any person other than a member of the aboriginal tribe into it.