“The Minister is just unable to reply primary questions that the Congress has been repeatedly elevating on the venture,” Mr. Ramesh stated.
“The Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav has accused the Indian National Congress of doing what he calls ‘negative politics’ on the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project. Drawing the nation’s attention to an imminent ecological and humanitarian disaster is NOT ‘negative politics’. It is an expression of grave concern,” Mr. Ramesh stated on X.
“The Minister is just unable to reply primary questions that the INC has been repeatedly elevating on the venture,” he stated and requested whether or not the Great Nicobar Mega Infra Project, which requires the diversion of lakhs of bushes, violate the National Forest Policy, 1988 which states that “tropical rain/moist forests, notably in areas Andaman & Nicobar Islands needs to be completely safeguarded?”
“Compensatory afforestation is all the time a poor substitute for old-growth forests however the afforestation deliberate on this venture is farcical. How can afforestation in distant Haryana, with a very completely different ecosystem, be thought-about a real offset for the lack of old-growth rainforest distinctive to Great Nicobar? Why has the Government of Haryana already freed up 25% of this land for mining as a substitute of reserving it for the afforestation?” Mr. Ramesh stated.
“Why was the National Commission on Scheduled Tribes not consulted earlier than the Nicobar venture was authorized,” he requested.
Union authorities seeks ‘factual report’ on forest rights grievance regarding Nicobar venture
“Why are the concerns of the Tribal Council of Great Nicobar regarding this project being ignored? Why is the Shompen Policy of the Islands, which explicitly calls for the integrity of the community to be prioritised in all projects, being disregarded?” Mr. Ramesh stated.
“Why does the “Social Impact Assessment” carried out as a part of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR) ignore the existence of the Shompen and the Nicobarese,” the Congress chief additional requested.
“The Forest Rights Act (2006) holds the Shompen as the sole legally empowered authority to protect, preserve, regulate, and manage the tribal reserve. Why does the Project’s approval process fail to recognize the same?” Mr. Ramesh stated.
He identified that the island harbours endangered species, together with leatherback turtles, megapodes, saltwater crocodiles, and wealthy coral programs. “Won’t this venture drive these species nearer to extinction,” he requested.
“Why are critical documents relating to this project, including the reports of the ground-truthing exercise conducted to reclassify the location of the planned transshipment port from CRZ1-A, not being published in the open?” Mr. Ramesh stated.
“Given the island’s historical past of extreme subsidence through the 2004 tsunami and its location in a high-seismic zone, can the sustainability of this venture be assured,” he additional requested.
“Over twenty years ago, a valuable book was published. It was called ‘Supreme Court on Forest Conservation’ and it was authored by Ritwick Dutta and Bhupender Yadav. Sadly the first author has had investigative agencies unleashed against him for his environmental activism — but happily the second author has had a much better fate. When will that Bhupender Yadav awake?” he stated.
Editorial | Nicobar triangle: on the ₹72,000-crore venture on Great Nicobar Island
Mr. Yadav final Thursday (September 18, 2025) hit out on the Congress for opposing the Great Nicobar infrastructure venture, accusing it of spreading confusion and indulging in “negative politics.”
Speaking at an occasion organised by The Public Affairs Forum of India in New Delhi, Mr. Yadav asserted that the mega venture is essential for nationwide safety and strategic connectivity within the Indian Ocean Region. Mr. Yadav stated just one.78% of Great Nicobar’s forest space can be used for the venture.
His remarks got here days after Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in an article in The Hindu, termed the ₹72,000 crore venture a “planned misadventure” that threatens the survival of the Shompen and Nicobarese tribes, destroys one of many world’s most unusual ecosystems and is very inclined to pure disasters.
Confusion over clearances for Great Nicobar venture persists
Ms. Gandhi alleged the venture was being pushed by by “making a mockery of all legal and deliberative processes.”
“The ancestral villages of the Nicobarese tribals fall in the project’s proposed land area. The Nicobarese were forced to evacuate their villages during the 2004 tsunami. This project will now permanently displace this community, ending its dream of returning to its ancestral villages,” Ms. Gandhi had stated.
She had additionally argued that the Shompen face a fair larger risk because the venture denotifies a major a part of their reserve and can convey a big inflow of individuals and vacationers to the island. In response, Mr. Yadav not too long ago authored a column in the identical newspaper, defending the venture as certainly one of strategic, defence and nationwide significance.
He had stated the plan is designed to remodel Great Nicobar into a significant hub of maritime and air connectivity within the Indian Ocean Region, with a world container transhipment terminal, a greenfield worldwide airport, a 450 MVA gas- and solar-based energy plant and a township over 16 sq km.
