Conservation, prime minister Narendra Modi once said, is an article of faith for his government. Yet the drift of his government’s ‘development’ drive—be it in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand or the country’s forest areas or the island outposts of Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands— suggests the exact opposite. Let’s take, for example, the misleadingly named ‘The Great Nicobar Holistic Development Project (emphasis added).

Despite environmental red flags, ethical concerns and legal hurdles, the government looks all set to clear the Rs 92,000 crore infrastructure push to transform the southern Andaman and Nicobar Islands into a strategic maritime hub near the Malacca Strait.

Envisaged as one of the world’s busiest transhipment ports, the project includes an airport large enough to allow the largest commercial aircraft to land, a township for an initial population of 3.5 lakh, a power plant and demarcated areas for ‘tourist resorts’. The scale is unimaginable for the fragile Andaman and Nicobar Islands, if concern for the environment is any sort of consideration. But, of course, the development juggernaut must roll on.

The environmental clearances for the project are before a bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had reserved its order in November last year. The forest clearances have been challenged in the Calcutta High Court, where the matter has been posted for ‘final hearing’ in the week beginning 30 March.

Meanwhile, serious allegations have emerged from the islanders. On 22 January the Tribal Council in Little and Great Nicobar alleged it was being pressured to “surrender our ancestral........

© National Herald