Vidhan Bharat

The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry is set to review the forest clearance documentation for the ₹72,000-crore infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island, a key undertaking of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration, according to Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram. This is a significant step for the government in its third term because it highlights the contentious and difficult choices that governments face when addressing the trilemma of infrastructure development, preserving pristine biodiversity, and being sensitive to the rights of Indigenous peoples and tribal groups.¹

Great Nicobar Island: A Paradise

Great Nicobar is also a UNESCO biosphere reserve and part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, a place whose amazing biodiversity inspired Alfred Russel Wallace’s evolution theory, Charles Darwin’s main adversary. Great Nicobar has two national parks, a biosphere reserve, small populations of the Shompen and Nicobarese tribal people, and a few thousand non-tribal settlers. Of the more than 2,500 species of fauna and flora reported on the island, 17% are endemic, meaning they can only be found on Great Nicobar or the other much smaller islands in the Nicobar archipelago. The Galathea Bay in the Nicobar Islands hosts multiple rare species including the leatherback turtle, and the project imperils their future.²

The Shompen is one of the least studied Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India which reside in dense tropical rain forests of Great Nicobar Island of Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands. Though according to Census (2011), the estimated population of Shompen is 229, the exact population of Shompen is unknown till today.³

Highlights and Significance of the Project:

The Great Nicobar Project involves developing a trans-shipment port, an international airport, a township development, and a 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant on the island. The project area is expected to cover over 130 sq. km. of pristine forest, and has been accorded a stage-1 environmental clearance – one of the mandatory prerequisites – by an expert committee. The mega infrastructure project – which is being implemented by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO) – is proposed to include an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), a greenfield international airport with a peak hour capacity to handle 4,000 passengers, a township, and a gas and solar-based power plant spread across 16,610 hectares. The government contends that its motive is to leverage the strategic location with the Great Nicobar Island located only 90 km away from the western tip of the Malacca Strait, an important shipping route between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

Strategic Significance:

The Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean region hold strategic importance for India due to China’s expanding naval presence, particularly at Indo-Pacific choke points like Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok. China’s military facility on Myanmar’s Coco Islands, just 55 km north of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, heightens India’s security concerns. In April, The Indian Express reported that India is upgrading military infrastructure in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, enhancing airfields, jetties, logistics, storage, personnel bases, and surveillance systems. This upgrade aims to support additional military forces, larger warships, aircraft, missile batteries, and troops, bolstering security and deterrence at Great Nicobar.

(Part II of this blog will explore the challenges and future prospects of the Great Nicobar Development Project.)

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Reference:

1. Nicobar triangle: On the ₹72,000-crore project on Great Nicobar Island (2024). The Hindu. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/%E2%80%8Bnicobar-triangle-on-the-72000-crore-project-on-great-nicobar-island/article68327922.ece.
2. Mukerjee, M. (2024). Remote Island Paradise threatened by shipping terminal. Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/remote-island-of-great-nicobar-threatened-by-container-terminal/.
3. Heterogeneity and group dynamics among the Shompen of Great Nicobar Island. Retrieved from https://ncst.nic.in/sites/default/files/2017/Seminar/Amit_Delhi_Presentation_on_Shompen_NCST_Seminar_June_2018.pdf.

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