Great Nicobar Island Project: Draft Relocation Plan for Nicobarese Families Raises Tribal Rights Concerns
A draft plan for the "relocation" of Nicobarese tribal families affected by the Great Nicobar Island (GNI) Development Project has been circulated, but it has generated significant confusion and concern among tribal communities.
The draft lacks clarity on relocation sites, exact numbers of families to be displaced, the consent process, and rehabilitation timelines.
Tribal communities — particularly the Nicobarese, who were already displaced from their ancestral coastal lands following the 2004 tsunami and relocated to the island's east coast — fear permanent loss of their traditional territories.
Tribal council members allege they were pressured to sign land-surrender certificates to demonstrate community support for the project.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) cleared the project in February 2026 citing its "strategic importance," while mandating strict compliance with environmental safeguards.
The project has faced multiple legal challenges, including a petition in the Calcutta High Court citing violations of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and Article 338A(9) of the Constitution.
Great Nicobar Island Development Project: Strategic Vision and Scale
The Great Nicobar Island Development Project is a ₹81,000-crore integrated infrastructure initiative on India's southernmost island, located at the southern tip of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, close to the Malacca Strait. It is being developed by ANIIDCO (Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation) and involves four major components: a transshipment port, an international airport, a township, and a 450 MW gas/solar power plant.
The scale of forest clearance and infrastructure development makes displacement of tribal communities and environmental disruption inevitable — and the lack of clear relocation planning is now a flashpoint of resistance.
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and the Shompen
India recognises 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) — the most marginalised among Scheduled Tribes, characterised by pre-agricultural technology, very small and declining populations, extreme geographic isolation, and near-total dependence on forest ecosystems. Great Nicobar Island is home to two PVTGs: the Shompen (interior forest dwellers) and the Nicobarese (coastal communities).
The draft relocation plan's lack of clarity on consent processes is especially serious in the context of PVTGs — international standards (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) and domestic law (FRA 2006) require Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) for projects affecting tribal communities, which has not been demonstrated.
Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the Consent Requirement
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 — commonly called the Forest Rights Act (FRA) — is a landmark law that recognises the forest rights of tribal communities (Scheduled Tribes) and other traditional forest dwellers who have inhabited forests for generations. The Act requires that forest land cannot be diverted for non-forest purposes without (a) settling all forest rights claims of the resident communities and (b) obtaining the consent of the Gram Sabha (village assembly).
Key Details
- Section 5 of the FRA empowers tribal communities to protect and manage their forest habitats and to stop any activity that threatens the community's forest ecosystem — including infrastructure projects.
- The FRA's Gram Sabha consent requirement applies to all forest diversion proposals under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
- Article 338A(9) of the Constitution requires that the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes be consulted before any project affecting tribal areas is approved — a requirement that the Great Nicobar project has allegedly not fulfilled.
- The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for special administrative provisions for tribal areas, including the creation of Tribal Advisory Councils.
- The 2013 Land Acquisition Act (now Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act) also requires social impact assessment and consent in tribal areas.
The confusion around the draft relocation plan is, at its core, a failure to comply with FRA consent and rights-settlement requirements before project clearances were granted — a legally contestable gap that is now generating court challenges and tribal resistance.
- Project cost: approximately ₹81,000 crore.
- Project implementing agency: ANIIDCO (Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation).
- Forest to be cleared: approximately 130 sq km; trees to be felled in initial phase: approximately 8.5 lakh.
- Great Nicobar Island area: ~910 sq km; distance from Malacca Strait: ~140 km.
- PVTGs in India: 75 groups officially designated.
- Shompen population (2011 Census): 229 (actual unknown; most are uncontacted).
- The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (December 26, 2004) displaced Nicobarese communities from the west coast of Great Nicobar.
- NGT cleared the project in February 2026, citing strategic importance.
- Article 338A(9): mandatory prior consultation with National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
- FRA 2006 requires Gram Sabha consent for any forest land diversion.
- Petition filed in Calcutta High Court alleging FRA violations in project clearances.