Great Nicobar project will destroy unique ecosystem; pause, revisit venture: Ramesh to Environment Minister

📌 Summary:

• Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav demanding the Great Nicobar Island development project be paused and revisited
• Trigger: Government released an FAQ document (May 1, 2026) claiming project's ecological impacts were "comprehensively assessed and effectively managed"
• Ramesh refutes claim: Environmental clearance was based on baseline data collected "over a few days and weeks at best" — grossly inadequate for a project of this scale
• Key legal concern: The EIA process was violated — full ecological studies not conducted before clearance; HPC (High-Powered Committee) report ordered by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has not been made public
• Great Nicobar Island: ~85% is designated as Biosphere Reserve; part of UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Programme; home to 1,700+ endemic species, leatherback sea turtles, and the Shompen tribal community
• Project includes: Transshipment port, international airport, township, and a military base — total cost estimated at ~₹72,000 crore
• Environmental risks: 964,000 trees to be felled; seismically vulnerable zone; coral reef destruction; threat to leatherback turtle nesting sites; impacts on Shompen tribe
• Ramesh says EIA reports are "an insult to science" and demanded that the NGT-ordered HPC report be disclosed immediately
• Government counter: Project follows EIA Notification 2006 + ICRZ Notification 2019; 42 compliance conditions; compensatory afforestation planned