Development, not destruction: Govt to Rahul Gandhi over Nicobar project remark

The government on Friday strongly rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that the proposed Great Nicobar infrastructure project is a "crime against nature", asserting that it is a project of "strategic national importance" aimed at strengthening India’s maritime, economic and security footprint in the Indo-Pacific region.

In a detailed clarification issued after Gandhi’s remarks on Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Environment said the project, planned at Campbell Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has been designed to balance development with ecological safeguards and protection of indigenous communities.

Gandhi had described the project as "one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against the natural and tribal heritage of the country". He alleged that the development would lead to the felling of millions of trees across 160 sq km of pristine rainforest, calling it "destruction dressed in development’s language".

Responding to the criticism, the ministry said the Great Nicobar Project aims to transform the island into a key maritime and economic hub, leveraging its proximity of about 40 nautical miles to the East-West international shipping route.

"The Great Nicobar Project is a strategic project which aims to strengthen India’s presence in the Andaman Sea and Southeast Asia. The project seeks to balance port-led growth with calibrated environmental safeguards and protection of indigenous communities," the clarification said.

It added, "By combining strategic, economic and ecological priorities, the project seeks to ensure that development in Great Nicobar is sustainable, inclusive and aligned with national interests."

The ambitious project includes multiple large-scale infrastructure developments. They include an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) with a capacity of 14.2 million TEUs; a greenfield international airport capable of handling 4,000 peak-hour passengers; a 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant and planned township spanning over 16,610 hectares.

The ministry said these components are designed to support port-led economic growth and position Great Nicobar as a critical logistics and connectivity hub in the region.

"Tribal welfare remains central, with no displacement proposed for Shompen and Nicobarese communities and a net increase in notified tribal reserve area through re-notification measures," it added.

Addressing concerns over deforestation, the government said the project would involve diversion of only 1.82 per cent of the total forest cover of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. While an estimated 18.65 lakh trees fall within the project area, the number expected to be felled is capped at around 7.11 lakh trees across 49.86 sq km, to be done in phases.

The clarification also pointed out that the project has received environmental clearance under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, with 42 specific compliance conditions covering pollution control, biodiversity conservation, waste management and disaster preparedness.

Great Nicobar is home to approximately 237 Shompen, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group and around 1,094 Nicobarese people. According to the government, no tribal habitations will be displaced and consultations have been held with multiple agencies, including the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and tribal welfare bodies.

While 73.07 sq km of tribal reserve land will be de-notified for project purposes, 76.98 sq km will be re-notified as tribal reserve, resulting in a net increase of 3.912 sq km, according to the government.

Given the island’s vulnerability to earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis, the project also includes a comprehensive disaster management and risk assessment framework.

WHAT RAHUL GANDHI SAID

After visiting Campbell Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Rahul Gandhi described the region as ecologically invaluable and warned that the project would result in large-scale environmental destruction.

"These are the most extraordinary forests I have ever seen in my life. Trees older than memory. Forests that took generations to grow," he said, adding that both Adivasi communities and settlers were "being robbed of what is rightfully theirs."

He alleged that the project would lead to the felling of millions of trees across 160 sq km of rainforest. "What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe. It is 160 sq km of rainforest condemned to die. It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away," Gandhi said, terming it "destruction dressed in development’s language".

Doubling down on his criticism, Gandhi said, "What is being done in Great Nicobar is one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime. It must be stopped. And it can be stopped, if Indians choose to see what I have seen".

Calling the project a "wholesale theft", Gandhi said islanders had urged him to raise the issue in Parliament. "This needs to be told to the whole nation, especially young people because this is your future. This is possibly one of the biggest scams and largest thefts of Indian property, of ecological property that has ever taken place," he added.

Gandhi, who arrived in the islands on April 26, met members of the Nicobarese tribal community as well as settler groups. Many of them, according to him, expressed concerns over environmental risks, lack of transparency and alleged neglect of tribal rights.

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