The Great Nicobar Island Project has received statutory environmental clearances, with the process and underlying studies coming under scrutiny following allegations by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh. Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav formally responded to these concerns, asserting that the project’s appraisal and review adhered to established legal and scientific protocols.
According to The Indian Express, Bhupender Yadav rejected Jairam Ramesh’s claims that the environmental clearances for the Great Nicobar Project were based on inadequate baseline data. Yadav stated that the environmental impact assessment and biodiversity impacts had already been examined in detail during both statutory appraisal and a judicially mandated review process.
Yadav’s written response, dated 27 May, outlined that the project’s environmental appraisal was conducted in a comprehensive, multi-tiered manner, referencing the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, the Island Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2019, and other relevant provisions. The project, spanning 166 square kilometres, includes a transshipment container port, an international airport, power infrastructure, and a greenfield coastal city, and will require the felling of 13,000 hectares of forest on the islands as coverage revealed.
