PM Modi marching to 'environmental disaster' in Great Nicobar: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

The Great Nicobar Island Development Project, a ₹81,000 crore infrastructure initiative spearheaded by NITI Aayog, continues to face sustained legal and publ...

What Happened

The Great Nicobar Island Development Project, a ₹81,000 crore infrastructure initiative spearheaded by NITI Aayog, continues to face sustained legal and public challenges despite receiving environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in November 2022.
Multiple petitions challenging the project's "in principle" forest clearance and the settlement of rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) are currently pending before the Calcutta High Court.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) declined to interfere with the 2022 environmental clearance, citing adequate safeguards and the project's strategic importance, after a court-appointed committee found no procedural flaws.
Critics have raised concerns about the project's impact on leatherback sea turtle nesting beaches at Galathea Bay, the clearing of over a million trees, and inadequate consultation with the Shompen — a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) inhabiting the island.
The Tribal Council of Campbell Bay has opposed proposed conservation sites on grounds of insufficient consultation and has asserted long-standing coexistence with the island's wildlife.

Static Topic Bridges

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006

The EIA Notification, 2006, issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, mandates prior environmental clearance for all projects listed in its Schedule before any construction or operation begins. The clearance process involves four stages: Screening, Scoping, Public Consultation, and Appraisal by an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC). The EAC is an independent technical body under MoEFCC. Projects with strategic or national security dimensions may be exempted from certain public consultation requirements under the notification's provisions.

The Great Nicobar project obtained environmental clearance under EIA Notification, 2006 in November 2022, with 42 specific environmental conditions attached.
The island lies in Seismic Zone V — the highest earthquake-vulnerability category — raising concerns about the adequacy of the EIA's disaster risk assessment.
Only 1.82% of the total forest cover of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is directly affected, per official estimates.

Connection to this news: Legal challenges in the Calcutta High Court centre on whether the EIA process adequately complied with public consultation norms and whether forest clearance conditions were properly satisfied before the project advanced.

Forest Rights Act, 2006 (Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act)

The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, recognises and vests forest rights in Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers who have been residing in forests for generations but whose rights were not recorded. The Act covers individual rights (cultivation, homestead) and community rights (community forest resource management). Crucially, no diversion of forest land is lawful unless the rights of forest-dwelling communities are first recognised and settled under the FRA and the concerned Gram Sabhas (or equivalent bodies) provide their consent.

The Shompen are a PVTG classified under the Andaman and Nicobar Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation, 1956, with a population of approximately 300, making them one of the world's few surviving largely isolated hunter-gatherer communities.
Opponents argue that FRA rights of the Shompen were not properly settled prior to the forest clearance being granted.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs received representations from experts expressing concern about the vulnerability of the Shompen to contact-related disease and cultural disruption.

Connection to this news: The pending Calcutta High Court petitions specifically challenge whether FRA rights were duly settled before the "in principle" forest clearance was granted — a pre-condition the Act makes non-negotiable.

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Biosphere Reserves

The Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, provides for the protection of wild animals, birds, and plants, and for the establishment of Protected Areas including National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves, and Community Reserves. Great Nicobar is home to a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve (notified in 1989) and includes the Galathea National Park, a Critical Sea Turtle Habitat. The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) — the world's largest marine turtle — is listed in Schedule I of the WPA, affording it the highest level of protection.

Galathea Bay contains the most significant leatherback sea turtle nesting ground in the northern Indian Ocean; nearly two-thirds of all leatherback nests on Great Nicobar are concentrated here.
The proposed International Container Transshipment Terminal at Galathea Bay directly overlaps with this critical nesting habitat.
The Wildlife Institute of India has noted that comprehensive conservation plans for the island's biodiversity would require at least two years of detailed field research before major construction.

Connection to this news: Petitioners argue that the environmental clearance inadequately addresses the destruction of Schedule I species habitat at Galathea Bay and the impact on the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve's core zone.

Strategic Significance: India's Maritime Positioning

Great Nicobar Island lies approximately 40 nautical miles from the Malacca Strait — one of the world's busiest shipping lanes — and sits astride the East–West international shipping route. The project envisions a 14.2 MTEU International Container Transshipment Terminal at Galathea Bay to reduce India's dependence on foreign transshipment ports (chiefly Colombo, Singapore, and Port Klang). A dual-use greenfield international airport, a 450 MVA gas–solar power plant, and a planned township are additional components.

India currently routes a significant share of its transshipment cargo through Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Singapore.
Galathea Bay's natural deep-water profile is suited for large container vessels without major dredging.
The project is classified as a matter of national security, which is the basis for the relaxation of certain standard EIA public consultation requirements.

Connection to this news: The tension between environmental law compliance and strategic national interest is at the core of ongoing litigation and public debate over the project.

Key Facts & Data

Project cost: ₹81,000 crore (~$10 billion)
Environmental clearance granted: November 2022, MoEFCC
Number of environmental conditions attached: 42
Trees to be felled: over 1 million (est.)
Great Nicobar Island area: approximately 921 sq km; ~95% tropical rainforest
Leatherback turtle nests recorded at Galathea (2016): over 400
Shompen population: ~300; classified as PVTG
Island seismic classification: Zone V (highest earthquake risk in India)
Distance from international East–West shipping route: ~40 nautical miles
Planned terminal capacity: 14.2 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units)
Biosphere Reserve status: UNESCO-designated, notified 1989