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Legal Challenges to the Great Nicobar Infrastructure Project
Why in the News?
- The Great Nicobar Island (GNI) infrastructure project has faced legal challenges due to environmental concerns.
About the Great Nicobar Infrastructure Project:
- The project involves the construction of a civilian and defence airport, an international container transhipment terminal, and a township.
- The estimated cost is Rs 72,000 crore.
Why It Faces Legal Challenges?
- Environmental activist Ashish Kothari and the Conservation Action Trust (CAT) challenged the project’s environmental and Coastal Regulation Zone clearances.
- Concerns include irreversible damage to biodiversity, inadequate environmental impact studies, and lack of transparency in the clearance process.
- The project may affect the Shompen and Nicobarese tribal communities’ ancestral lands.
Role of NGT:
- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) revisited the green clearance following appeals by environmentalists.
- The NGT formed a high-powered committee (HPC) to review the project’s clearance.
- The HPC found the proposed port did not fall within the prohibited Island Coastal Regulation Zone-IA (ICRZ-IA).
- Highlighted deficiencies in coral conservation and baseline data.
- HPC to finalise the report in two months; no irreversible work until then.
Island Coastal Regulation Zone-IA (ICRZ-IA):
- ICRZ-IA refers to ecologically sensitive areas where ports are prohibited to maintain the integrity of the coast.
About Great Nicobar and Its Location:
- Great Nicobar: southernmost, largest Nicobar Island.
- Area: 910 sq km, tropical rainforest.
- Indira Point: India’s southernmost point, 170 km from Sabang, Sumatra.
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 836 islands.
- Two groups: Andaman Islands (north) and Nicobar Islands (south).
- Separated by a 150-km wide 10° Channel.
- Great Nicobar: two national parks and biosphere reserve.
- Inhabitants: Shompen, Onge, Andamanese, Nicobarese tribes, and non-tribal settlers.
Significance:
- The project aims to boost economic development and enhance national security.
- It is linked to India’s strategic interests in the Indian Ocean, particularly concerning the build-up of Chinese naval forces in the region.
- The project will cover 166 sq km and involve the felling of 130.75 sq km of forests.