Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Great Nicobar this weekend, people familiar with the matter said.
He was invited by the Greater Nicobar Tribal Council recently to discuss the concerns of the Great Nicobar Tribal Community regarding upcoming infrastructure projects on the island. Gandhi is likely to visit Kolkata on Friday and then fly to Port Blair on Saturday, before traveling by helicopter to Great Nicobar, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tribal council leaders said they invited Gandhi to discuss concerns about the conversion of tribal lands.
“Our main concern is to divert tribal lands and lands from our villages before the tsunami. From what we have gathered, at least 5-6 villages will be affected before the tsunami. The authorities said that their plan for the recharge project is still in the draft stages and that the Great Nicobar Comprehensive Development Project will ensure quick connectivity of the tribal communities here with the mainland. But we want to ensure that tribal lands are not diverted and the forests are not destroyed,” said one of the captains.
HT reported on January 22 that members of the Greater Nicobar Tribal Council said the Andaman and Nicobar administration had asked them to give up their claims to some villages where they lived before the 2004 tsunami — a request they are not keen on accepting as these villages are an integral part of their culture and heritage.
In a meeting with reporters in the capital on Thursday, the tribal council members referred to a meeting held on January 7 at the Andaman Public Works Department guest house in Campbell Bay with UT administration officials, including officials from the office of the Deputy Commissioner and the Andaman Adym Gangati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS). They said that during the meeting they were asked to issue a “certificate of surrender” to some ancestral villages.
