ANNDAM-NICOBAR ISLANDS PROJECT: Losing Pristine Glory for Puny Gains

Andaman & Nicobar, a cluster of islands in the extreme south of India, are largely left to their own devices in the vast Indian Ocean. Except in 2004, when a tsunami and earthquake wreaked havoc in the region. Or when an American evangelist waving a Bible at the Sentinelese, an uncontacted, indigenous tribe, in a bid to convert them, was shot dead by their arrows.

In recent years, the Government of India has been actively promoting development of the archipelago, ‘development’ being a fraught word. Ecologists, anthropologists as well as environmentally minded politicians have warned that the plans border on misadventure rather than progress. Conservationists have pointed out that large-scale infrastructure development on the biodiverse islands can damage not only the ecology, the surrounding seas and unique flora-fauna but also the indigenous as well as migrant populations in a profound and irreversible manner. The islands sit on a seismic zone, averaging 44 earthquakes a year and are prone to cyclonic storms exacerbated by climate change and rising sea levels.

Experts have cautioned the authorities regarding the dangers of building massive structures on a vulnerable region such as this and requested a reconsideration of plans but to no avail. The government seems nonchalant to the criticism and eager to carry out the plans, regardless of the human or ecological cost.

NITI Aayog, the think tank of the government, first announced a mega-project for Little Andaman, to urbanize it in the league of Hong Kong or Singapore. But since 2021, the project seems to have taken a backseat with no new updates on the matter.

Instead, in November 2022, the ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island’ project was fast tracked and received a green signal from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

The Great Nicobar, the southern-most island in the A&N archipelago, is spread across a mere 900 sq km and is certified as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The ‘mega infrastructure project’ planned on the narrow strip of land, is expected to include a transshipment port, an international airport, a powerplant and a greenfield township. The investments are pegged at a whopping Rs 72,000 crore. Over 30 years, the population of the island is expected to go up to 3.5 lakh from the current 8,500. A million trees are expected to be cut in virtually untouched forest ecosystems in exchange for afforestation in faraway Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

The island is home to several indigenous tribes such as the Shompen (classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group), the Nicobarese (a Scheduled Tribe) and the Onge. They have developed sustainable ways of living on the island and have their own unique belief systems. Much about them is not common knowledge and they are often exoticised by mainlanders.

For most of the year, the Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Great Nicobar, is used by the largest turtle in the world, leatherback turtle, for nesting. To enable the construction of the port, the sanctuary has been denotified and if the plans go ahead, it would irremediably disrupt the nesting practices of hundreds of sea turtles. Coral reefs, mangrove forests and other rare species such as giant robber crab, Malayan box turtles and crab eating macaques would also be in peril. Beyond the human and ecological issues surrounding the project, activists have revealed other concerning aspects as well. For instance, the agency in charge of implementing the project is Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO).

Pankaj Sekhsaria, Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) and member Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group, has pointed out how a small-time organisation involved in trading petroleum products, India-made foreign liquor and milk, managing tourism resorts, and infrastructure development for tourism and fisheries, was suddenly given charge of the mega infrastructure development project. Sekhsaria has researched the islands for three decades and is an impassioned critique of the project. He has written several articles explaining why the government must urgently reconsider the project.

Besides, in November 2022, the Tribal Council of Great and Little Nicobar Islands withdrew their no-objection certificate for the project, explaining that they had earlier been misled to believe that only vacant land would be used for the project. Later they learnt that the project would ruin the ancestral villages of the Nicobarese and they withdrew their consent. But it made no difference.

Appeals against the MoEFCC clearance were filed with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) by Mumbai-based Conservation Action Trust and environmentalist Ashish Kothari. The appeals raised 3 main concerns. Firstly, that there would be severe impact of the diversion of 130.75 sq km of pristine tropical rainforests on the biodiversity of the region and wildlife habitats. Secondly, that prime forest land cannot be diverted for township and non-site-specific projects. And thirdly, that not only were the mandatory provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, not followed, but the settlements of the Shompen and the Nicobarese, would have to be diverted and denotified.

Disregarding the concerns, a six-member ‘special Bench’ of the NGT gave the project a green signal, giving primacy to economic development and national security. It is seen that the forest cover in the area is more than 75 per cent.

While the forest is of great significance in tackling air pollution and climate change, development cannot be totally ignored. There is hardly any development in the area. There is a need not only for economic development but also national security. There is no conflict of interest as such… there is a policy permitting afforestation outside the State if forest cover is more than 75 per cent. Thus, no case is made out to interfere with the FC,” the Bench said.

Congress leader and former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh termed the project “a recipe for ecological and humanitarian disaster”. In January this year, he said, “My exchanges on this unfolding tragedy with the Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change are all in the public domain. The entire project will destroy at least 33,000 acres of pristine tropical forest. Now comes news that the project is proposed to be expanded to establish — a cruise terminal to facilitate a global port-led city; a shipbuilding and ship-repair facility; and an export-import port. This is sheer folly multiplying. The blatant hypocrisy of a Prime Minister who boasts to the world of his deep commitment to environmental causes stands thoroughly exposed. There is no great mystery on who will get these port contracts. If the Prime Minister wants to walk his talk, he should immediately order a pause and set up an independent panel to review the project in its entirety.”

Meanwhile, it was announced that 10 agencies, including Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) Ltd, JSW Infra Ltd, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), Container Corporation of India Ltd, and the Dutch dredging major Royal Boskalis Westminster, have submitted expressions of interest for the construction of the port.