Public Accounts Committee asks Home Ministry for report on Great Nicobar Project

📌 Summary:

• Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson K.C. Venugopal has sought a report from the Union Home Ministry on the Great Nicobar Project
• The Congress has accused the government of imperilling the fragile Nicobar islands ecosystem for commercial purposes
• The PAC was meeting to deliberate the CAG report on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences when the issue was raised
• The ₹72,000-crore mega project (transshipment port, airport, township, power plant) has drawn concern over loss of tropical forest, impact on Shompen and Nicobarese tribes, and coral/leatherback turtle habitats

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 Environment — EIA process, tribal rights vs. strategic-infrastructure trade-offs; GS2 — PAC as a financial oversight committee scrutinising executive action

📝 Prelims Facts:

• PAC is chaired by convention by a member of the Opposition; examines CAG reports
• Great Nicobar lies in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands; home to Shompen (PVTG) and Nicobarese
• Galathea Bay is the proposed transshipment port site and a leatherback turtle nesting ground

🔑 Key Term: EIA — Environmental Impact Assessment, the statutory appraisal of a project's environmental consequences before clearance