Nicobar island mega project being ‘bulldozed’, ‘fresh evidence’ of administration making false claims, says Jairam Ramesh

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday (August 23, 2025) alleged that the Union government’s ₹72,000 crore mega infrastructure project on the Great Nicobar island was “simply being bulldozed through”, adding that it was “without a doubt a maha ecological disaster”.

The Congress general secretary in charge of communications made these remarks while sharing a report by The Hindu on Saturday about the Tribal Council in Nicobar Islands complaining to the Tribal Affairs Minister. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration had “falsely” reported to the Centre that tribespeople’s rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) had been “identified and settled”, the council had said.

In a post on social media on Saturday, Mr. Ramesh referred to the report, saying that there was now “fresh evidence” of the administration making false claims about forest rights on the islands, and obtaining forest land lawfully for the project, which includes a transhipment port, an airport, a township, and a power plant.

The Hindu reported on Saturday that the Tribal Council has written a fresh letter to Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram about the Union Territory administration’s claims of settling the forest rights of tribespeople. In a 2022 certificate for forest land diversion under the FRA, the administration had claimed that all FRA rights had been settled and consent obtained for the diversion. The Tribal Council in its letter told Mr. Oram that neither had forest rights under the FRA been initiated nor had consent been obtained legally.

This has come about despite the administration telling the Union government in monthly FRA progress reports that it need not apply the law on the islands as the forests there were already protected under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Act of 1956.