New Delhi: Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram in the ongoing parliament session on Wednesday (March 12) defended the controversial Rs 72,000 crore Great Nicobar Island mega-infrastructure project, dismissing concerns around environment and tribal displacement as well as clearances. Opposition MPs tried to corner the Union government regarding this during Question Hour, but were unsuccessful.
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale, who kicked off Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, asked the tribal affairs ministry about the clearances granted for the project as well as its impact on the local tribal communities living on the island.
Oram declined to answer this question, citing cases involving the project that are currently pending in the Calcutta High Court. “As such, no comments are offered,” he reportedly said.
Further the tribal affairs minister argued that the infrastructure project was of strategic importance. He said China “was sitting in Hambantota” in Sri Lanka, so “why should India leave our land?”
Also read: Who Is the Great Nicobar ‘Holistic Development’ Project Really For?
Gokhale termed it unfortunate that the Ministry had “declined” to answer the question. Congress MP and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh, also took issue with the government declining to answer on the grounds that it was sub-judice while calling the project a “mega-environmental and humanitarian disaster”, the report added.
Meanwhile, Oram also claimed that the project has no environmental impact and that “not a single tribal is being displaced”. Instead, he argued, “This project is very important socio-economically and commercially in the interest of the country. We are merely 40 km away from the sea route. That is why we cannot leave this.”
Since its announcement, the Union government has found itself on the back foot with questions being raised about its mega plans for port-township-airport-power plant project on the Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost island of the Andaman and Nicobar Island complex in the Bay of Bengal.
Also read: Red Flags Galore in Great Nicobar Island’s Proposed Greenfield Airport
Titled as ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island at Andaman and Nicobar Islands’, the project has been steeped in mystery since its inception.
The Wire has earlier reported that a whopping 8.5 lakh rainforest trees across 130 square kilometres will be felled for this mega port-township-airport-power plant project on the eastern coast of Great Nicobar Island.
Further, the Greenfield International Airport, part of the list of projects, which is being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 8,583 crores, clash with the rights of residents, endanger the biodiversity of the area as well as the livelihoods and survival of indigenous tribal communities. It has also pointed to potential conflicts of interest in the clearances it has received from government agencies, regarding the intended use of the airport, and in the legality of the land allocated for the site of the airport.
The site for the airport also falls under the Tribal Reserve Area declared under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes (PAT) Regulation, 1956, but to date it is not clear whether the Andaman and Nicobar Administration has executed its proposal to de-notify the Tribal Reserve Area.
