A new book of essays highlights the ways ‘development projects’ in Nicobar will endanger the island
An excerpt from the Introduction to ‘The Great Nicobar Betrayal’, edited by Pankaj Sekhsaria.
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In a set of developments that have unfolded with unprecedented speed and uncharacteristic coordination over the last three years, there has been a huge push for a mega development plan for Great Nicobar, the southernmost island in the Andaman and Nicobar group. The centrepiece of the plan, euphemistically labelled the “Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island”, is a Rs 40,000 crore transhipment port, with additional components being an international airport, a powerplant, and a greenfield township spread over more than 130 sq km of pristine forest. The ecologically rich island is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The project seeks to increase the population of the island from the current 8,000 people to 3,50,000 (a 4,000 per cent increase) over the next 30 years and also envisages the cutting of nearly a million trees in a largely pristine and untouched rainforest ecosystem. Piloted by the NITI Aayog, the project is estimated to cost a whopping Rs 72,000 crore.
Flawed clearances
The process started in September 2020 with the NITI Aayog’s request for proposals (RFP) and the subsequent release in March 2021 of a 126-page pre-feasibility report (PFR) by international consultant AECOM India Pvt Ltd. Vimta Labs, based in Hyderabad, was contracted to prepare the environment...
