The Pulse | Environment | South Asia

Why Modi’s Great Nicobar Project is a Recipe for Disaster

It will open the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to loot and plunder. It involves felling 15 million trees and encroaching upon the land of the reclusive Shompen tribals.

700 miles from the Indian mainland and scattered across the Bay of Bengal near the mouth of the Strait of Malacca lie India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The archipelago is known for its rich biodiversity, which includes nine National Parks, 96 wildlife sanctuaries and a major UNESCO-recognized Biosphere Reserve — the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve.

This island chain is now at the center of a controversy. The fragile ecosystem and biosphere of the Great Nicobar island, in particular, is in danger of being wiped out by the Narendra Modi-led government’s plans to “develop” the island chain via the Great Nicobar Project.

Proposed in 2021, the massive infrastructural project pegged at a cost of around $7.5 million involves the construction of an international airport, a trans-shipment port, and a township. In its draft plan for the island, the government explicitly states that the project will see the Nicobar Island emerge as a major tourism and entertainment hub.

Environmentalists, anthropologists and opposition leaders have slammed the government on the project.

The southernmost Great Nicobar island, with its rare coral reefs and unique rainforests, is also home to the indigenous Shompen tribe and Nicobarese tribes. It has been designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. It is this irreplaceable ecosystem that is now under threat from Modi’s project.

On June 5, Environment Day, Congress parliamentarian and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi created a stir when he released videos of his visit to the Great Nicobar Island. Drawing attention to the pristine tropical rainforest, he explained how Modi’s infrastructure project endangered the ecology, unique flora and fauna of the island. The project involves felling 15 million trees and encroaching upon the land of the reclusive Shompen tribals.

Gandhi also pointed to the government’s plans to develop a port and township at Galathea Bay, which will be located within the biosphere reserve’s buffer zone. Experts have pointed out that the bay is a prime nesting site of the endangered species of the giant leatherback turtle, the largest of all sea turtles.

The Adani Group, which is closely linked to the Modi government, is a leading contender to develop the port terminal.

Gandhi pointed out that the infrastructure project is aimed at benefiting “one businessman” – Gautam Adani, a billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairperson of the Adani Group. “We don’t want Mr Adani sitting in Nicobar Islands,” Gandhi said.

The Congress leader has launched a campaign, “Great Nicobar island is not for sale.”

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are strategically located. They lie near the mouth of the Strait of Malacca. The Modi government has often claimed that the infrastructure projects are aimed at boosting India’s security and defense. Niti Aayog, the Modi government’s planning body, has described the Great Nicobar Project as one that strengthens India’s “defence presence in the Indo-Pacific.”

The government has also claimed that the proposed International Container Transshipment Port at Galathea Bay would help attract international maritime trade by offering large container ships, which otherwise head to Sri Lanka and Singapore, facilities to dock.

Gandhi has challenged the Modi government’s justification of the infrastructure projects at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The project involves “building hotels and casinos,” Gandhi wrote in a post on X, reminding the government that “the country’s defense is done by the armed forces. Not hotels and........

© The Diplomat