Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said that despite Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram's interest in reviewing the Rs 72,000-crore project in Greater Nicobar Islands, he may not be allowed to do so. Jairam Ramesh then took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the "real" decision on the matter would be taken by him and not Oram himself.
What Is The Great Nicobar Project?
The Great Nicobar Project is an infrastructure upgrade plan that would involve cutting 9.6 lakh trees to build an international airport, a township, a trans-shipment port, and a gas and solar power plant to generate 450 MVA (megavolt-amperes) on the island. The massive deforestation is required for the project as the proposal covers over 130 sq km of forested area.
The government's plan to compensate for the massive loss of trees in the rainforest ecosystem is an afforestation project in Haryana. However, this is unlikely to make up for the loss of habitat of fauna of the region which are specifically found in rainforests. Haryana's climate is vastly different from that of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and would not sustain the kind of vegetation and life that thrive on the island.
This prompted protests against the project from various quarters, including the Congress. Great Nicobar is home to a biosphere reserve and two national parks — Campbell Bay National Park in the north and Galathea National Park in the south.
According to The Indian Express, the island also boasts small populations of the Shompen and Nicobarese tribal peoples. The Shompen people, a tribe categorised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, occupy about 7.114 sq km of reserved forest land. The project allegedly violates the land rights of these tribes as well. Non-tribal settlers amounting to a few thousand also live on the island.
What Jual Oram Said About Great Nicobar Project
Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram in an interview with The Hindu last week said that he would look into the allegations surrounding the project. He said the forest and land rights of the tribal people would have his full attention during his tenure. He said his ministry would intervene if there is any purported abandonment of the consent of tribals.
Speaking about the Great Nicobar project, Oram said that it was the particular case would take some time to get resolved as there were a lot of files to go through. "But we will be looking into the issues that have been raised by calling for the relevant files and documents and then we can proceed with determining the way ahead,” he was quoted as saying.
Congress's Jibe At Centre
Calling the Great Nicobar Project a "perfect recipe for ecological and humanitarian disaster", Jairam Ramesh cited Jual Oram's interview and said the minister not being averse to a review of the plan was "mildly" encouraging. "I say 'mildly' because the REAL decisions are taken for him by the non-biological PM and his band [sic]," Ramesh said.
Ramesh said the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs should also ensure that the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes functions as an independent organisation and "not a rubber stamp institution".
"The community forest rights movement — launched through the Forest Rights Act (2006) in April 2011 from Menda Lekha Gram Sabha in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra — must be strengthened," he said.
Jairam Ramesh also sought a review of the decisions taken during 2014-24 that allegedly weakened tribal rights while handing out environmental and forest clearances, including the Forest Conservation Amendment Act (2023), the Forest Conservation Rules (2022), and the Biological Diversity Amendment Act (2023).