Congress demands suspension of environmental clearance for Nicobar project | Latest news from India

The Congress demanded the immediate suspension of all environmental and forest clearance operations approved for the planned “integral development of Greater Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands”, arguing that it posed a “serious threat to the tribal communities and the natural ecosystem of the region”.

In a statement released on Monday, Congress MP and General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said there were numerous warning signs regarding the proposed ₹72,000 crore ‘mega infra project’ on Greater Nicobar Island, which was started in March 2021 at the instance of the NITI Aayog. He demanded a stay of all approvals and conduct of an impartial review of the proposed project, including by parliamentary committees.

According to official documents, the Union Environment Ministry gave “in-principle” approval for the conversion of 13,075 hectares of forest land in the region in 2022. “This area constitutes about 15% of the island’s land mass and represents one of the largest forest conversions in the country in a nationally and globally unique rainforest ecosystem. To compensate for the loss of this unique rainforest ecosystem, afforestation is planned in the state of Haryana, thousands of kilometres away and in a completely different ecological zone… the coastline where the port and project are proposed to come up is earthquake-prone and experienced permanent subsidence of about 15 feet during the December 2004 tsunami,” Ramesh, a former Union Environment Minister, said in the statement.

He added that locating such a large project in Greater Nicobar puts investments, infrastructure, people and ecology at risk. “The project poses a direct threat to the welfare and survival of the Shompen, an indigenous community classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). The government has compromised due process in its haste to get the clearance,” the Congress leader alleged.

He also said the project “violates the letter and spirit of the Forest Rights Act (2006) which designates the Shompen as the sole legally empowered authority for the protection, conservation, regulation and management of the tribal reserve.”

HT reported on April 14 that in November 2022, the Little and Great Nicobar Tribal Council withdrew the No Objection Certificate (NOC) granted in August of the same year for the conversion of land – about half of which is tribal reserve land – for the controversial Great Nicobar Township and other infrastructure projects.

On November 28, 2022, HT reported that the loss of forests on Greater Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal will be compensated by afforestation in the Aravalli range in Haryana, according to a decision by officials of the Ministry of Environment.

In 2023, the Constitutional Conduct Group, comprising nearly 100 former officials, wrote to President Droupadi Murmu protesting against the government’s move for a mega infrastructure project in Greater Nicobar.

Officials of the Union Environment Ministry were aware of the Congress statement but did not respond immediately.

MoEFCC’s Parivesh website shows that the Terms of Reference, one of the first steps in the Environmental Impact Assessment process, was issued on May 25, 2021, for the holistic development of Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This includes the integrated development of an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) with a greenfield international airport, town and area development and a 450 MVA gas and solar power plant. The Environment Ministry’s Expert Committee recommended the proposal for approval of the Environmental and Coastal Conservation Zone with the specific conditions on August 23, 2022.

The project’s Phase I (FC) forest clearance was approved by the Ministry of Environment on October 27, 2022, for the conversion of 130.75 square kilometers of forest land on Greater Nicobar Island, according to documents accessed by environmentalists.