Alleging that the Modi government is “destroying” the Great Nicobar Island (GNI), Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi Friday said that more than 1.5 crore trees, ancient coral reefs, and irreplaceable rainforests are being destroyed “to profit one businessman”.
Rahul Gandhi had visited the island in May and had alleged that the Rs 81,000-crore Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project is “one of the biggest scams” and “gravest crime” against India’s natural and tribal heritage. The Union Government had replied by issuing a lengthy factsheet on environmental impact assessment, tribal welfare, while laying out the project’s ‘strategic maritime’ and ‘defence’ purposes.
In a post on World Environment Day (Friday), Rahul Gandhi said: “I want to ask every young Indian one question: What kind of India do you want to inherit? One where rainforests have been bulldozed for casinos, coral reefs erased from maps, tribal communities pushed off their land, and the air we breathe turned into poison? Or one where India’s natural heritage is protected, our tribal communities are safe, and progress works with nature – not against it.”
“This is your inheritance they are bulldozing. And only you can stop them,” said Rahul Gandhi, while asking the young people to sign a petition against the project.
In a separate post, along with the video of his visit to the island last month, Rahul Gandhi said: “I visited the southernmost tip of India. I stood at Indira Point. I walked under trees that have stood for centuries. I dove into coral reefs among the most vibrant on earth. And I sat with the people who live there. Tribal communities, whose land is being taken away by violating the Forest Rights Act. Settlers, many of them former soldiers, placed on these islands by the Indian government, who aren’t getting fair compensation.”
He wrote that the Modi government and the BJP tell you the Great Nicobar Project “is about defence”. “It is not. Expand INS Baaz – we will back the government fully. The Navy has been asking for expansion for five years – it has been ignored. They tell you it is about a transshipment port. It is not. India is already building one in Kerala, which is on the mainland. What it actually is: 1.5 crore trees felled. Coral reefs erased from official maps. Soldiers and tribals displaced – so one businessman can build hotels and casinos on India’s most irreplaceable ecological land.”
He said that every young Indian he has spoken to understands this. “You know that no amount of profit is worth destroying what can never be recovered. I stand for ecologically balanced development. These islands can be the most extraordinary sustainable destination the world has ever seen. That is the India worth fighting for,” said Rahul Gandhi.
GNI project
The GNI project will span 166 sq km and include a transshipment container port, an international military-civilian use airport, power infrastructure, and a greenfield coastal city. It will require the felling of 13,000 hectares of pristine forest on the ecologically sensitive islands.
While the Congress and Rahul Gandhi have alleged that the project is to benefit one businessman against rules and provisions, the Centre has defended the project and has cited the detailed environmental studies, shoreline assessments, marine investigations and modelling exercises undertaken by institutions such as Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
