Congress calls for thorough impartial review of Great Nicobar infrastructure project

PTI, Jul 28, 2024, 5:36 PM IST

Representative image (source: PTI)

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday termed the proposed Great Nicobar infrastructure project an “environmental and humanitarian disaster” and called for its thorough impartial review, including by the parliamentary committees concerned.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a media report on X which claimed that a high-powered committee (HPC), appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and tasked with revisiting the green clearance for the Great Nicobar infrastructure project, has concluded that a proposed transshipment port does not fall in the Island Coastal Regulation Zone-IA (ICRZ-IA), where ports are prohibited, but is in ICRZ-IB where these are permitted.

In a post on X, Ramesh said, “These are simply games being played at the behest of the Sutradhar, who is pushing for this environmental and humanitarian disaster that the Great Nicobar Mega Infra Project is.”

“Several questions arise — How can land categorisation change like this? Surely, some sanctity must be given to the local authority — the Andaman and Nicobar Coastal Management Authority, which knows more of ground-level realities — than to some ‘expert’ body that can be manipulated?” he said.

What is the new information available to Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO) and to the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) that they have managed to overturn everything that was said thus far and change the categorization of the land, Ramesh asked.

He asked about the due process for such recategorisation.

“More details need to be made available about the activities of the NCSCM. When did they visit the Nicobar Islands? What methods did they employ to gather their information? When will the NSCSM report be made public?” he said.

Ramesh asked when the HPC report to the National Green Tribunal will be made public.

“There needs to be a thorough impartial review of this proposed project, including by the Parliamentary committees concerned,” the Congress leader said.