What is the scale of environmental risks and biodiversity losses linked to the Great Nicobar mega-project? | In Focus podcast
3 months, 1 week ago

What is the scale of environmental risks and biodiversity losses linked to the Great Nicobar mega-project? | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

The Great Nicober Island is the southernmost island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. The island is located on a seismically high-volatile zone, and experiences on an average one earth quake a week, of varying magnitude. The project plan, piloted by the Niti Aayog, includes a ₹40,000 crore International Container Trans-shipment Terminal, a greenfield international airport, a gas-and-solar-based power plant, and a township stretching over 16,610 hectares. This proposed project will decimate 131 sq km of pristine tropical evergreen forest, destroy the primary nesting place of the giant leatherback turtle, and settle 350,000 people on an island whose current population is 8,500. Guest: Dr. Pankaj Sekhsaria, a researcher and academic writer who has written extensively on the Andaman and Nicobar islands for over three decades and has curated the anthology, ‘The Great Nicobar Betrayal’.

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History of this topic

Great Nicobar Megaproject: Will 10 Million Trees and an Indigenous Culture Vanish?
3 days, 14 hours ago

Great Nicobar Megaproject: Will 10 Million Trees and an Indigenous Culture Vanish?

The Hindu  

Published : Mar 25, 2025 19:49 IST - 11 MINS READ Two decades ago, when the Indian Ocean tsunami wiped out their remote village of Pulobhabi on Great Nicobar’s western coast, nine Nicobarese defied the odds and survived the deadly waves. What does this loss of forest mean for Great Nicobar’s indigenous people? Ironically, the champions of the Great Nicobar …

‘The Shompen way of life is set to be eroded,’ says Nicobarese anthropologist Anstice Justin
1 week ago

‘The Shompen way of life is set to be eroded,’ says Nicobarese anthropologist Anstice Justin

Hindustan Times  

He grew up on the island of Car Nicobar and was India’s first anthropologist from a Nicobarese tribe. In his 30s, Anstice Justin was part of early contact missions organised by the government of India to North Sentinel island. The Great Nicobar Island Development Project is an unjust plan; it is a threat to every aspect of the tribes’ way …

Great Nicobar Mega Project Threatens Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaque, Say Experts
1 week, 1 day ago

Great Nicobar Mega Project Threatens Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaque, Say Experts

The Hindu  

Published : Mar 20, 2025 13:04 IST - 6 MINS READ The mega infrastructure project, worth Rs.81,000 crore, proposed for the fragile Great Nicobar Island, has India’s leading primatologists concerned: the fate of the endemic Nicobar long-tailed macaque, found nowhere else in the world but in the three Nicobar islands, hangs in the balance. A press release from the Association …

Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Sustaining the Andamans
1 week, 5 days ago

Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Sustaining the Andamans

India Today  

The India Today Conclave served as the platform for unveiling a report titled ‘Towards a Climate Resilient Future: Strategies for Andaman and Nicobar Islands’, published by PwC India. Released by Dr Keshav Chandra, former chief secretary of A&N Islands, the report highlights three key areas: the need to balance development goals with environmental safeguards; essential adaptation and mitigation strategies; and …

Great Nicobar’s Flawed Restoration Plan: Why Tree-Planting and Reef Relocation Won’t Save Its Ecosystem
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Great Nicobar’s Flawed Restoration Plan: Why Tree-Planting and Reef Relocation Won’t Save Its Ecosystem

The Hindu  

Published : Feb 12, 2025 09:05 IST - 29 MINS READ Trofim Lysenko was a radical plant biologist of the Soviet era. In this section, we briefly summarise the current state of knowledge of the restoration of rainforests and coral reefs in the hope that it will stimulate a reconsideration of the existing restoration proposals for Great Nicobar and help …

Great Nicobar’s Mega Project: A Costly Gamble with Forests, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Rights
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Great Nicobar’s Mega Project: A Costly Gamble with Forests, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Rights

The Hindu  

Published : Feb 12, 2025 08:08 IST - 15 MINS READ A series of developments and new information that has come to light in recent months have raised further questions about the planned Rs.80,000 crore mega infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island. One of the sources of new information is the minutes of a meeting held in Port Blair on …

The Great Nicobar Project: A Mega Development or an Environmental Catastrophe?
1 month, 2 weeks ago

The Great Nicobar Project: A Mega Development or an Environmental Catastrophe?

The Hindu  

Published : Feb 11, 2025 21:22 IST - 3 MINS READ In the past 50 years—and increasingly in the last 10—the word development has assumed a plain and clear meaning. The Great Nicobar Island is being viewed as a similar piece of “beautiful” real estate, which must be developed into a “Macau”, a “Singapore”, even as its trees, creatures, and …

Activists alarmed by plans to hand reclusive Indian island tribe voter IDs
2 months, 1 week ago

Activists alarmed by plans to hand reclusive Indian island tribe voter IDs

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Indian government has distributed …

Govt seeks larger bench for Great Nicobar infra project
3 months, 1 week ago

Govt seeks larger bench for Great Nicobar infra project

Hindustan Times  

The Union environment ministry has asked that a larger bench of the National Green Tribunal, Eastern Zone comprising six or more members hear the application related to Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project. The bench constituted a high powered committee headed by the secretary, union environment ministry to revisit the environmental clearance granted by the environment ministry to the Great Nicobar …

Nicobar report not public due to strategic info: Centre
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Nicobar report not public due to strategic info: Centre

Hindustan Times  

The report of the National Green Tribunal -appointed high-powered committee on the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project has not been made public as it takes into account issues and facts related to the strategic, defence and national security of the country, the Union environment ministry has informed the Rajya Sabha. The green tribunal constituted the high-powered committee headed by the …

Wildlife nods spiked in 2023; Nicobar plan to cost over ₹81K crore
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Wildlife nods spiked in 2023; Nicobar plan to cost over ₹81K crore

Hindustan Times  

No objections were raised by the tribal communities against the Great Nicobar project during the “statutory period” for such feedback under the law, the Union government has submitted in parliament, a position that could be significant against the backdrop of Tribal Council of the Indian Ocean island announcing it had rescinded its permission for a controversial plan to carry out …

A Mega Infrastructure Project on India’s Great Nicobar Island Spells Devastation
7 months, 3 weeks ago

A Mega Infrastructure Project on India’s Great Nicobar Island Spells Devastation

The Diplomat  

Despite strong opposition from environmentalists and anthropologists, the Indian government is pressing ahead with plans for a $9 billion infrastructure project in Great Nicobar Island, situated at the southern end of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A proposed deep draft container transshipment terminal is planned for Great Nicobar Island’s Galathea Bay. With the Indian government promising to make Great Nicobar …

Review of The Great Nicobar Betrayal, curated by Pankaj Sekhsaria: Alarm bells
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Review of The Great Nicobar Betrayal, curated by Pankaj Sekhsaria: Alarm bells

The Hindu  

Situated over a thousand kilometres off India’s east coast, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands may be out of sight and out of mind for most of us. The Great Nicobar Betrayal, curated by Pankaj Sekhsaria, is a chronicle of this devastation foretold, narrated in 13 essays on various aspects of the project and the island’s biodiversity, with tables and annexures. …

Andaman admin to protect Great Nicobar tribal interests, says Centre
7 months, 4 weeks ago

Andaman admin to protect Great Nicobar tribal interests, says Centre

Hindustan Times  

The Andaman and Nicobar administration has been entrusted with protection of interests of tribals who will be impacted by the holistic development of Great Nicobar Island in the Union territory, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. HT reported on April 14, 2023 that the Tribal Council of Little and Great Nicobar had in November 2022, withdrawn the no …

Union Tribal Affairs Minister promises to look into Great Nicobar clearances
9 months ago

Union Tribal Affairs Minister promises to look into Great Nicobar clearances

The Hindu  

The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry will be looking into the forest clearance paperwork of the ₹72,000-crore infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island that the National Democratic Alliance government has been pushing for, and accordingly determine next steps, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram has said. While speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Oram, handling the Tribal Affairs portfolio for the third time, …

Congress demands suspension of environment clearance given to Nicobar project
9 months, 1 week ago

Congress demands suspension of environment clearance given to Nicobar project

Hindustan Times  

The Congress has demanded the immediate suspension of all environment and forest clearances granted for the proposed “Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island in Andaman & Nicobar Islands” on the grounds that it is a “grave threat to the region’s tribal communities and natural ecosystem”. In a statement issued on Monday, member of Parliament and Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh …

The Nicobar megapode, an election mascot, is threatened by a massive development project
10 months, 3 weeks ago

The Nicobar megapode, an election mascot, is threatened by a massive development project

The Hindu  

Published : May 07, 2024 19:57 IST - 5 MINS READ A shy, big-footed, terrestrial bird endemic to the Nicobar group of islands, known to incubate its eggs in a mound of soil and leaf litter, was declared the election mascot for the Nicobar district last month in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections: the Nicobar megapode. But the …

Environment | How a conservation-development clash chokes India’s Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep archipelagos
1 year, 8 months ago

Environment | How a conservation-development clash chokes India’s Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep archipelagos

The Hindu  

Published : Jul 21, 2023 17:30 IST - 5 MINS READ India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, two environmentally sensitive archipelagos, have been at the centre of recent controversies. On the other hand, the Great Nicobar project in Andaman and Nicobar has sparked renewed debate about the islands’ future in view of the suggested development plans. Highlights In Lakshadweep, …

Take a holistic view of the Nicobar project
1 year, 11 months ago

Take a holistic view of the Nicobar project

Hindustan Times  

The Great Nicobar Project has come to exemplify a fractious ongoing national debate between strategic and economic imperative on one side, and long-term climate and environmental sustainability on the other. The ₹75,000 crore project, which includes a shipping terminal, power project and township, builds on previously untested economic potential in a geostrategic spot close to major shipping lines, but risks …

NGT constitutes high-powered committee to revisit environmental nod granted to Great Nicobar Island project
1 year, 11 months ago

NGT constitutes high-powered committee to revisit environmental nod granted to Great Nicobar Island project

The Hindu  

The eastern bench of the National Green Tribunal has ordered a stay on the ₹72,000 crore Great Nicobar Island project and constituted a committee to revisit the environmental clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Great Nicobar Island is a mega project to be implemented at the southern end of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. …

Great Nicobar Project | Plan for the paradise
1 year, 11 months ago

Great Nicobar Project | Plan for the paradise

The Hindu  

April 02, 2023 03:24 am | Updated April 24, 2023 11:53 am IST In February 2021, India’s National Marine Turtle Action Plan mentioned Galathea Bay on the south-eastern coast of the Great Nicobar Island as one of the “Important Marine Turtle Habitats in India”. But this kind of development is exactly what is planned for the future of Galathea Bay …

Great Nicobar project will not evict tribes, says Centre
1 year, 11 months ago

Great Nicobar project will not evict tribes, says Centre

The Hindu  

Displacement of tribespeople will not be allowed to make room for the ₹72,000 crore Great Nicobar island project, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs told the Rajya Sabha on March 29. However, the Tribal Affairs Ministry said that the utilisation of tribal reserve area will be subject to the interests of the local tribespeople living in the area, especially the Shompen …

A grave mistake in Great Nicobar
2 years ago

A grave mistake in Great Nicobar

The Hindu  

In unprecedented haste, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has cleared the decks for a mega project at the cost of about ₹70,000 crore at the southern tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island’ project aims to develop an international transhipment port of 14.2 mTEU cargo capacity at Galathea Bay …

A Rs.72,000-crore disaster
2 years, 2 months ago

A Rs.72,000-crore disaster

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 16, 2023 18:31 IST Dear Reader, Ever Googled ‘Nicobar’? Great Nicobar, located on the southern tip of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, is the focus of what is being called a ‘holistic development’ plan. The Rs.72,000 crore project, to be implemented over the next 30 years, has received in-principle environment clearance and it spells doom for this …

INTERVIEW | Ritwick Dutta: ‘Limited intervention was in the best interest of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’
2 years, 2 months ago

INTERVIEW | Ritwick Dutta: ‘Limited intervention was in the best interest of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 12, 2023 10:30 IST Ritwick Dutta, an award-winning lawyer specialising in environmental issues, is also an activist, author, and educator. Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, the environmental law advocacy group co-founded by him, received the Right Livelihood Award in 2021 for its “grassroots approach of empowering vulnerable communities to protect their livelihoods and claim their right …

Proposed infrastructure project in Great Nicobar Island a mega folly
2 years, 2 months ago

Proposed infrastructure project in Great Nicobar Island a mega folly

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 12, 2023 10:30 IST In a series of developments that have unfolded with uncharacteristic speed and coordination over the past two years, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has cleared the decks for a mega infrastructure project in Great Nicobar Island situated at the southern tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Island group in the …

GUEST COLUMN | The Andaman and Nicobar Islands need development but not at the cost of its unique ecology and people
2 years, 2 months ago

GUEST COLUMN | The Andaman and Nicobar Islands need development but not at the cost of its unique ecology and people

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 12, 2023 10:30 IST The Andaman and Nicobar islands are one of India’s key assets both in terms of strategic location and natural bounties. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands constitute just 0.2 per cent of India’s landmass but account for 30 per cent of the country’s 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. In my understanding, the Andaman and Nicobar …

Reconsider the Great Nicobar infra project
2 years, 3 months ago

Reconsider the Great Nicobar infra project

Hindustan Times  

At the southernmost tip of the subcontinent lies the Great Nicobar Island — a repository of rich biodiversity, some of the last untouched forests in the country and, if the government has its way, a ₹75,000-crore development project that includes an International Container Transhipment Terminal ; a greenfield airport; eco-tourism; a residential township; and a 450 MVA gas or solar-based …

Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam asks PM Modi to revoke clearance for Great Nicobar Island project
2 years, 4 months ago

Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam asks PM Modi to revoke clearance for Great Nicobar Island project

The Hindu  

Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revoke the clearance provided for the diversion of nearly 130.75 sq.km of forest area in the Great Nicobar island for a development project. The Union Environment Ministry has in principle granted its permission for the diversion of nearly 130.75 sq km forest area in the Great Nicobar …

Massive infrastructure project proposed by Central government threatens Great Nicobar Island
2 years, 5 months ago

Massive infrastructure project proposed by Central government threatens Great Nicobar Island

The Hindu  

Published : Oct 20, 2022 10:20 IST At the southernmost extent of India, off the eastern coast, Great Nicobar Island is a tropical oasis in the Andaman Sea. Protected status stripped Last year, large swathes of land and coastal area, including portions of the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve and Galathea Bay, were stripped of their protected status to make way …

Andaman and Nicobar Islands rendered fragile by rampant tourism
2 years, 6 months ago

Andaman and Nicobar Islands rendered fragile by rampant tourism

The Hindu  

Published : Sep 08, 2022 11:00 IST The pristine beaches, mangroves, unique biodiversity, protected species of giant leatherback turtles, and cultural traditions of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the Bay of Bengal may be sacrificed to commercial interests if the Central government has its way. A Rs.72,000-crore project mooted by NITI Aayog in early …

UN body asks India to respond on concerns around mega projects in the Andamans
2 years, 8 months ago

UN body asks India to respond on concerns around mega projects in the Andamans

The Hindu  

Published : Jul 22, 2022 19:18 IST The Central government is going ahead with two mega development projects in the eco-sensitive Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which environmentalists say pose a grave threat to the ecology of the islands and also endanger the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups inhabiting these islands. The two mega development projects, to be completed by 2050, are …

‘Inaccuracies, procedural violations’ in Great Nicobar draft environment impact assessment report
3 years, 2 months ago

‘Inaccuracies, procedural violations’ in Great Nicobar draft environment impact assessment report

The Hindu  

The details of the recently released draft environment impact assessment report for the mega development project in the Great Nicobar Island have raised serious questions related to submission of incorrect or incomplete information, scientific inaccuracy and failure to follow appropriate procedure. The EIA says in another place no migratory birds have been reported from Great Nicobar, whereas it is well …

Climate and Us | The link between reintroducing Cheetahs and Nicobar
3 years, 2 months ago

Climate and Us | The link between reintroducing Cheetahs and Nicobar

Hindustan Times  

India will soon embark on an ambitious project to introduce and maintain a population of at least 50 cheetahs in India over the next five years. According to an action plan drafted by the Wildlife Institute of India and released by the ministry of environment and forests last week, the goals of this translocation are to establish breeding cheetah populations …

Experts fear biodiversity loss in Andaman, Nicobar Islands
3 years, 9 months ago

Experts fear biodiversity loss in Andaman, Nicobar Islands

Hindustan Times  

A slew of infrastructure projects have been proposed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to give a major boost to tourism and business there, according to information released by the central government. Some of these projects include luxury tents and resorts on some islands; two water aerodrome projects in Shaheed and Swaraj islands ; two major township and area development …

Green panel allows Great Nicobar plan to advance
3 years, 10 months ago

Green panel allows Great Nicobar plan to advance

The Hindu  

The Environment Appraisal Committee - Infrastructure I of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has flagged serious concerns about NITI Aayog’s ambitious project for Great Nicobar Island. The EAC was responding to the 126 page ‘pre-feasibility’ report, ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island at Andaman and Nicobar Islands’, prepared for the NITI Aayog by the Gurugram-based consulting agency …

NITI Aayog vision for Great Nicobar ignores tribal, ecological concerns
4 years ago

NITI Aayog vision for Great Nicobar ignores tribal, ecological concerns

The Hindu  

In what appears to a re-run of recent developments in Little Andaman Island, more than 150 sq. of land is being made available for Phase I of a NITI Aayog-piloted ‘holistic’ and ‘sustainable’ vision for Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost in the Andaman and Nicobar group. First, on September 4, 2020, the Director, Tribal Welfare, A&N Islands, constituted an empowered …

In conversation with M. Sasikumar, Deputy Director of Anthropological Survey of India
4 years, 1 month ago

In conversation with M. Sasikumar, Deputy Director of Anthropological Survey of India

The Hindu  

M. Sasikumar, Deputy Director of Anthropological Survey of India, has worked closely with the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Among the few anthropologists to have visited North Sentinel Island and conducted an aerial survey, Sasikumar greatly emphasises a ‘hands-off, eyes-on’ approach towards the tribe. The document, among other things, stresses the need to respect the …

‘Foreign’ plastic invades Great Nicobar Island
5 years, 5 months ago

‘Foreign’ plastic invades Great Nicobar Island

The Hindu  

The pristine beaches of the Great Nicobar Island, India’s southernmost territory, are under threat from plastic. Proximity to island The overwhelming contribution from Indonesia and Thailand was likely due to its proximity to the island; the plastic is likely to have made its way to the island because of water currents via the Malacca Strait, which is a major shipping …

Andaman & Nicobar Islands: home to a tenth of India’s fauna species
6 years, 4 months ago

Andaman & Nicobar Islands: home to a tenth of India’s fauna species

The Hindu  

The Narcondam hornbill, its habitat restricted to a lone island; the Nicobar megapode, a bird that builds nests on the ground; the Nicobar treeshrew, a small mole-like mammal; the Long-tailed Nicobar macaque, and the Andaman day gecko, are among the 1,067 endemic faunal species found only on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and nowhere else. “The presence of a large …

Andaman crisis
7 years, 10 months ago

Andaman crisis

The Hindu  

INDIA was colonised once, but the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were colonised twice and continue to be colonised even now. The book, which consolidates his experience as a researcher-journalist writing about the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for more than two decades, is a compilation of 25 analytical features he has written since the 1990s in various publications, including Frontline, The …

Islands in Peril: Develop and perish?
13 years, 1 month ago

Islands in Peril: Develop and perish?

The Hindu  

More than 10 years ago, we arrived at Great Nicobar in the middle of a show of strength by the Indian Navy. Two adjoining protected areas, the Campbell Bay National Park in the north and the Galathea National Park in the south, constitute the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve. Post-tsunami reconstruction, combined with the emerging significance of the Andaman and Nicobar …

An intricate web
13 years, 1 month ago

An intricate web

The Hindu  

In a national scenario where wildlife conservation and tribal rights have ended up at the extreme ends of an acrimonious spectrum, the situation in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stands out in stark relief. Evidence suggests, in fact, that forests protected legally in the islands as tribal reserves are more important for wildlife and biodiversity conservation than the protected area …

Editors from Andaman discuss priorities and challenges
14 years, 8 months ago

Editors from Andaman discuss priorities and challenges

The Hindu  

Protecting indigenous tribes, preserving the fragile ecology, providing basic amenities such as drinking water and preventing illegal migration and encroachments are some of the main challenges confronting Andaman & Nicobar Islands. In an interaction with journalists at The Hindu on Monday, editors of newspapers and magazines from Andaman & Nicobar listed out the priorities before the administration in the Union …

Tilt and turmoil in the Andamans
18 years, 7 months ago

Tilt and turmoil in the Andamans

The Hindu  

The earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 caused huge changes in the coastal systems of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Among the worst hit areas in India were the fragile Andaman and Nicobar Islands, particularly the southern group of the Nicobars. Assessments done by Dr. Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado indicate that the northern parts of the Andaman group …

A battered archipelago
20 years, 2 months ago

A battered archipelago

The Hindu  

In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the giant waves cause not only death and destruction but changes in the geography. Unlike mainland India, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not have sufficient breathing time between the earthquake and the tsunami. The defence services were quick to react, with the Coast Guard beginning search-and-rescue operations and the Navy sending its biggest …

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