Scientists, environmentalists, policy experts raise concerns over Supreme Court-appointed panel on Aravallis
Scientists and environmentalists have raised fresh concerns over the Great Nicobar Island Development Project (GNIDP), a multi-component mega infrastructure initiative approved by NITI Aayog.
The project involves: an international container transhipment terminal at Galathea Bay, a dual-use civil-military airport, a greenfield township, and a gas/solar power plant — collectively among India's largest strategic infrastructure projects.
Key ecological concerns include: destruction of Leatherback sea turtle nesting sites at Galathea Bay (one of the largest nesting beaches in the Indian Ocean region), felling of an estimated 9.64 lakh trees in tropical rainforest, and loss of the Nicobar Megapode and saltwater crocodile habitats in the Galathea River.
The Shompen, one of India's most isolated PVTGs (fewer than 300 individuals, semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers), inhabit the interior forests that fall within the project footprint, raising concerns about involuntary contact and disease exposure.
The civil-military airport component (₹13,000 crore) received fresh clearance in June 2026. Independent scientists contest official tree-loss estimates, arguing actual density and biodiversity loss will be significantly higher.
Great Nicobar Island — Geography and Strategic Significance
Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest island of the Nicobar group in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory administered by the Centre.
Key Details
- Located at roughly 6°45'N, 93°49'E — less than 90 km from Indonesia's Sumatra and approximately 150 km from the Strait of Malacca, the world's busiest shipping lane.
- The island lies in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) intersection of India, Indonesia, and the Andaman Sea, giving it strategic naval and commercial importance.
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands sit on the Indo-Burmese fault zone — the same plate boundary that produced the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
- Great Nicobar is covered by tropical rainforest, much of which falls under the Galathea National Park and a Biosphere Reserve, both under environmental protection.
- Galathea Bay was a proposed Ramsar site (wetland of international importance) — its development as a transhipment port raises conflict with conservation obligations.
Great Nicobar's geographic position makes it the linchpin of India's Act East Policy and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine — explaining the strategic motivation behind the project despite environmental objections.
Leatherback Sea Turtle — Conservation Status and Legal Protection
The Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) is the world's largest sea turtle, classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (though subpopulations in some ocean basins are Critically Endangered).
Key Details
- In India, Leatherback sea turtles nest primarily on Great Nicobar Island (Galathea Bay), making it one of the most significant nesting sites in the Indo-Pacific.
- All sea turtles are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which provides the highest level of legal protection — hunting, poaching, or disturbing them (including nesting beaches) is a cognisable, non-bailable offence.
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) — Appendix I — prohibits commercial trade in sea turtles.
- India is also a signatory to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS), under which sea turtles are listed.
- Destruction of nesting beaches (beach lighting, construction, sand compaction) is one of the primary anthropogenic threats to sea turtle survival.
The transhipment port at Galathea Bay directly impacts the Leatherback's primary Indian nesting ground, creating a direct conflict with India's obligations under the Wildlife Protection Act and international conservation conventions.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Clearance Framework
Before any major industrial or infrastructure project can begin, it must undergo an Environmental Impact Assessment under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the EIA Notification, 2006.
Key Details
- EIA Notification, 2006 (under EP Act, 1986) classifies projects into Category A (national-level clearance by MoEF&CC) and Category B (State-level clearance by SEIAA).
- Category A projects include ports, airports, thermal power plants, and large townships — all components of the Great Nicobar project fall under Category A.
- The process involves: Screening → Scoping → Public Consultation → Appraisal → Grant/Rejection of clearance by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).
- Critics have raised concerns that the Great Nicobar project received ex-post facto relaxations and that the public consultation process was inadequate given the remoteness and tribal composition of the island.
- Forest diversion for the project requires clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (amended 2023 as Van (Sanrakshan evam Samridhi) Adhiniyam).
Independent scientists challenging tree-loss estimates and adequacy of environmental review are specifically contesting the EIA process — a core Mains theme on regulatory capture, scientific rigour, and independent environmental appraisal.
Shompen Tribe and the Concept of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in Island Contexts
The Shompen are among the most isolated tribal communities in the world — they are hunter-gatherers with almost no regular contact with the outside world, residing in the interior forests of Great Nicobar.
Key Details
- The Shompen are classified as a PVTG; their population is estimated at fewer than 300 individuals.
- They are not Andaman-Nicobar Islanders in the Andamanese sense — they speak a language isolate unrelated to Andamanese or Nicobarese.
- The Andaman and Nicobar Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation, 1956 protects the Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa, and Sentinelese from contact and external encroachment. The Shompen have a separate but analogous protection under the Shompen Policy (2015) recommending a contact-avoidance and island-buffer approach.
- First contact and introduced disease have historically caused catastrophic population collapses in uncontacted tribal populations worldwide — epidemiological "virgin soil" vulnerability.
The GNIDP's project footprint overlapping Shompen habitat risks exactly the contact-exposure disease vector that conservation policies explicitly seek to avoid — a UPSC Mains "vulnerable sections" concern set against a "strategic development" backdrop.
- Project authority: NITI Aayog-planned; implemented by Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO)
- Components: Transhipment port + dual-use airport (₹13,000 crore cleared June 2026) + township + power plant
- Galathea Bay: One of the largest Leatherback sea turtle nesting sites in the Indian Ocean region
- Tree felling estimate: ~9.64 lakh trees (official); independent scientists project higher
- Leatherback protection: Schedule I, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; CITES Appendix I; CMS signatory
- Great Nicobar proximity to Malacca Strait: ~150 km; to Indonesia: ~90 km
- Shompen population: Fewer than 300 individuals; PVTG status
- Nicobar Megapode: Endangered ground-nesting bird in Galathea River habitat
- Tectonic risk: Indo-Burmese fault zone (same fault as 2004 tsunami)
- EIA framework: Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; EIA Notification, 2006
- Forest clearance law: Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (amended 2023)
- India has 75 PVTGs in 18 states + 1 UT