Congress general secretary in charge of communications and Rajya Sabha MP, Jairam Ramesh, wrote to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday, urging… $81,000 crore Great Nicobar Island Development Project is a “recipe for environmental disaster” and urged him to consider expanding existing marine infrastructure across the Union Territory instead.
The letter, dated May 16, is the third time Ramesh has written to a senior Cabinet minister in less than two weeks about the project. He wrote to the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on May 10, and to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs on May 13.
“I am now writing to you because the project, which is essentially a commercial project and faces increasing public criticism for the environmental damage it will cause, is sought to be justified by the Indian government on the basis of overriding security considerations,” Ramesh wrote.
the $The Rs 81,000-crore project, being implemented by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO), proposes to establish a deep-sea transshipment port in Galatea Bay, a dual-use international airport, a township and a 450 MVA power plant on an area of 16,610 hectares on Grand Nicobar Island, near the Strait of Malacca.
The island is home to two indigenous communities, the Nicobarians and the Chumbe, the latter classified as a particularly vulnerable tribal group. The project received environmental clearance in November 2022.
In his letter to Singh, Ramesh made three “considerations”.
First, he noted that the INS Buzz in Campbell Bay was commissioned in July 2012, and that plans to triple the length of its runway and add a jetty had been awaiting approval for nearly five years, with “far fewer negative environmental impacts”.
Secondly, he said the Andaman and Nicobar Command already operates assets including INS Cardip, INS Cohasa, INS Utkrush, INS Jarawa and Car Nicobar Air Force Station, all of which can be expanded at lower environmental cost.
Third, he said the shipping port and town “do not enhance our country’s military capacity in any way,” yet they have “suddenly emerged as a major justification” for the project.
Read also:The Great Nicobar Project: India’s Doctrine of Strategic Depth in the Indian Ocean
The letter to Singh comes on the heels of Ramesh’s May 13 letter to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, in which he termed the government’s claim of following due process under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 to obtain tribal consent “completely false”.
He challenged the certificate dated August 18, 2022 issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Nicobar, saying that all rights under the Financial Control Act had been settled.
Ramesh said the Gram Sabha committees were constituted just two months before the Gram Sabha meetings on August 12, 2022, even though the Financial Control Act has been in force for 14 years, making any prior settlement of rights impossible.
Court records show that the three Gram Sabha meetings on August 12, 2022, covering seven villages, were attended by 349 people out of a total population of 7,519. Turnout was 1.83% in Campbell Bay, 14.72% in Lakshmi Nagar, and 11.98% in Govind Nagar, all below the 50% quorum under FRA rules.
The NOC signed by the Chairman of the Little and Great Nicobar Tribal Council at the Sub-Divisional Level Committee (SDLC) meeting the next day was withdrawn by the Council in November 2022. The Department continues to submit it as valid tribal approval.
Read also:The most serious crime against nature and tribal heritage: Rahul Gandhi on the Great Nicobar Project
The government’s May 1 FAQ, issued specifically in response to criticism of the Great Nicobar Project, cited consultations under the 2004 Jarawa Policy as evidence of tribal due process. Ramesh described this as “completely false”, pointing out that the Jarawa community does not reside on Grand Nicobar Island at all.
Three PILs challenging the FRA’s action and curtailment of environmentally sensitive buffer zones around the island’s national parks have been filed in the Calcutta High Court by Meena Gupta, a retired IAS officer who worked as secretary in the tribal affairs, environment and forest ministries, and was involved in drafting the forest rights legislation.
The court upheld the continuation of the three petitions on May 8, with the next hearing scheduled for June 23.
Ramesh said the alternatives he proposed to Singh had been recommended by “distinguished naval officers themselves in their writings” and carried much lower environmental costs than the current project. “There also cannot be two views on the need to project India’s strategic capabilities in a trustworthy manner,” he wrote.
