NEW DELHI: India’s environmental court has cleared a strategically significant infrastructure project on the ecologically sensitive Great Nicobar Island, dismissing petitions that warned of severe environmental consequences.
The National Green Tribunal on Monday rejected a batch of pleas challenging the mega development plan, stating that “adequate safeguards” had been incorporated into the project design.
The ambitious proposal includes the construction of a transshipment port, an international airport, a power plant and a township on the island, which lies near the Strait of Malacca — one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to invest billions of dollars to transform the remote island into a major maritime and aviation hub.
The project received initial environmental clearance in 2022.India’s environment minister previously described the initiative as being of “strategic, defence and national importance,” saying it would significantly boost connectivity in the Indian Ocean region.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also viewed by New Delhi as crucial in countering China’s expanding regional footprint.However, environmental activists argue that the project could cause extensive ecological damage, including the felling of hundreds of thousands of trees, and threaten fragile biodiversity on the island.
Members of the indigenous Nicobarese community have also raised concerns over the possible loss of ancestral lands, much of which was devastated during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.Opposition lawmaker Jairam Ramesh termed the tribunal’s decision “deeply disappointing,” warning that there is clear evidence the project could have “disastrous ecological impacts” with long-term consequences.
