Great Nicobar project recipe for humanitarian disaster: Jairam Ramesh

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said the present design of the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project endangers ecology in a needlessly unacceptable mannerCongress general secretary incharge communications Jairam Ramesh on X cited the views of former Chief of Navy Admiral Arun Prakash who has stated that it is both desirable and possible to bolster security without harming ecologySharing a report on Prakashs remarks Ramesh said on X These views on the very controversial Greater Nicobar Integrated Development Project expressed by a very distinguished former Chief of the Indian Navy Admiral Arun Prakash who has served in the Andaman amp Nicobar Islands merits serious attention His basic point is this It is both desirable and possible to bolster security without harming ecologyThe present design of the project being pushed through by the nonbiological PM endangers ecology in a needlessly unacceptable manner Ramesh saidThe Congress general secretary also shared the views of a professional Nicobarese anthropologist Anstice Justin on the Great Nicobar Integrated Development Project and claimed that the project is a recipe for ecological and humanitarian disasterOn Saturday Ramesh had written to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav over the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project alleging the highpowered panel tasked to revisit environmental clearances to the project was biased in its very composition and did not carry out any meaningful reassessmentRamesh had also expressed grave concern over expressions of interest being invited even as the National Green Tribunal deliberates on petitions before itIn his letter to Yadav Ramesh had also questioned the credibility composition and conclusions of a highpowered committee HPC tasked to revisit the environmental clearances granted to the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure projectRamesh and Yadav have had a series of exchanges via letters on the projectRamesh on August 27 had hit back at the Environment Ministrys assertion that clearances for the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project were granted after careful consideration saying the Environmental Impact Assessment study for it appears to have been primed to ensure its clearance in the form proposed by the NITI AayogIn a 10page letter to Yadav Ramesh had said even if one were to accept the strategic and defence importance of the project it would not preclude any discussion of its impact on the islands tribal communities and natural ecosystemNobody can be against strategic considerations but surely a better balance between them and ecological concerns can and must be struck which is certainly missing in this case he had said in his communication to Yadav which came in continuation of a series of letter exchanges between the twoIn response to a letter from Ramesh on August 10 Yadav on August 21 had said the environmental and forest clearances granted by his ministry have withstood judicial scrutiny