Great Nicobar Project: Strategic and Environmental Issues

Context

The proposed Rs 72,000-crore infrastructure upgrade at Great Nicobar Island has been met with significant opposition from conservationists and local tribal councils. The Congress party has described the project as a “grave threat” to the island’s indigenous inhabitants and fragile ecosystem, urging an immediate halt to all clearances and a thorough review by relevant Parliamentary committees.

Why is the Project Important to India?

• Due to its natural geography, Great Nicobar Island, located in close proximity to the Malacca Strait, becomes an important part of the maritime stability of India.
• The project proposes to maximize this location in order to further extend the position of India in the regional and global maritime business by the creation of ICTT and also to establish a new international airport.

Strategic Importance

• India’s entire security and strategic interests are at stake in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean region, especially as China seeks to establish a naval dominance in the region.
• It will also reduce the vulnerability of India’s maritime assets and enhance the island’s deterrence capabilities by enabling Great Nicobar to conduct business in the regional and international maritime sector.

Environmental Concerns

• Some of these key criticisms leveled on the proposed project are by virtue of their impact on ecology.
• This sense of nearly a million trees threatened to completely wipe out the Island’s ecosystem such basic major facilities as the coral reefs, the Nicobar Megapode bird as well as leatherback turtles.
• It is also noticeable that the area is geologically unstable, having sunk by about 15 feet during the December 2004 Tsunami, thus placing a question mark on the stability of the built-up structures.

Indigenous Tribes and Consultation

• The accomplishment is potentially threatening the Shompen and Nicobarese, indigenous peoples that inhabit the island.
• Tribal Council was never properly consulted and they got back a no-objection certificate for 160 sq km of forest land.
• These failures have also ignited issues with reference to the tribal population’s rights and their freedom as well as how they will be affected.

Legal Concerns

• The National Green Tribunal ordered a high-power committee to review the project’s clearances, but there has been no update on the committee’s report.
• This lack of transparency and accountability has further fueled the opposition to the project.

Conclusion

That is where the Great Nicobar project makes perfect sense on a strategic level, but the issue remains how on earth the project can bypass the environmental and societal issues. It is therefore essential to ask questions regarding ecological effects the project may have or will have on a local environment, and the absence of input from native tribes and populations. It is crucial to review the clearances of the project to correct for the shortcomings of the consultation process that left out minority communities, and then, develop a more elaborate consultation process to ensure the project is implemented de-biased and sustainably.

Source:  The Indian Express

UPSC Mains Practice Question 

Q. Discuss the strategic significance of the Great Nicobar Project and analyze the environmental issues associated with its implementation. How can a balance be achieved between developmental imperatives and ecological preservation in this context?

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