National Green Tribunal Clears Great Nicobar Project
Context:
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has officially cleared the path for the ambitious ₹92,000-crore Great Nicobar Island mega-infrastructure project.
The Tribunal disposed of a batch of petitions challenging the Environmental Clearance (EC) granted to the project in 2022, stating that it found "no good ground to interfere" with the approval given the project's "strategic importance" and "national interest"
Project Components:
The project is a massive integrated development initiative that includes the construction of a transshipment port, an international airport, a power plant, and a township.
It is viewed as a critical geopolitical asset for India in the Indian Ocean Region.
NGT’s Directives & Safeguards:
While clearing the project, the NGT emphasized that the project proponent must ensure "full and strict compliance" with the conditions laid out in the Environmental Clearance.
Ecological Responsibility:
The Tribunal explicitly stated that it will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to ensure that the proposed construction, including foreshore development, does not cause shoreline erosion.
Coral & Marine Life:
The MoEFCC has been directed to prepare an "implementation plan" to protect coral reefs along the coastal stretch.
This includes ensuring coral regeneration through proven scientific methods.
The government submitted that no coral reefs exist strictly within the work area, but the NGT mandated safeguards regardless.
The High-Powered Committee (HPC) Controversy:
An earlier NGT bench (2023) had constituted a High-Powered Committee (HPC) to review specific environmental concerns, including threats to Leatherback turtle nesting sites and the project’s overlap with ecologically protected zones.
The petitioners argued that the HPC’s terms of reference were "factually incorrect" and limited in scope.
However, the current Bench dismissed these objections, upholding the HPC's findings.
The NGT accepted the Union government's stance that the HPC report should not be made public because it contains information of "strategic, defence, and national importance".
Concerns:
Despite the NGT's clearance, the project faces opposition on the ground.
The indigenous Nicobarese and Shompen tribes have alleged that their consent was not lawfully taken and that their rights over forest lands have not been settled.
The project entails the denotification of the Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
The sanctuary is a critical nesting site for the endangered leatherback turtle.
Recent discoveries at the site of Great Nicobar Island:
Wolf Snake (Lycodon irwini) à recommended for classification as Endangered under the IUCN Red List due to its rarity.
Great Nicobar Crake (Rallina sp) à a potentially new bird species to science, photographed only thrice in over a decade.