Govt bulldozing ahead with Great Nicobar project, says Jairam

NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday attacked the Modi govt on the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project, saying it was "bulldozing this ecological disaster of a project through" even though environmental clearances have been challenged in courts.

On Aug 18, 2022, Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration - controlled by union home ministry - certified that all individual and community rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, had been identified and settled, and consent obtained for diversion to the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project, he said on X.

On Dec 18 last year, this approval was challenged in the Calcutta HC by Meena Gupta, a retired IAS officer who has been secretary in the environment ministry and also a senior official in the tribal affairs ministry, Ramesh said. "Thereafter, on Feb 19, 2025, the tribal affairs ministry (MoTA) filed an affidavit in the HC, submitting that it should be removed from the list of respondents," he said. He said MoTA seems to be curiously ambivalent even as the challenge in the HC awaits a detailed hearing. Ramesh highlighted that the environmental clearance to the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project is also under challenge in the National Green Tribunal.