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Great Nicobar Island Development Project

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Infrastructure plan for the Great Nicobar Island

Great Nicobar Development Plan is a planned mega-infrastructure project for the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island in Andaman Sea of India. The island comes under the Nicobar district administriation in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Overview

Total project costing ₹75,000 crore (US$9.4 b in 2022) was conceived by NITI Aayog and is being developed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDC). geostrategic importance for defence, logistics, commerce and industries, eco-tourism, coastal tourism, Coastal Regulation Zone, etc, The project include:

  1. Galathea Bay International Container Transhipment Terminal (Galathea Bay ICTT) with 14.2 million TEUs (unit of cargo) capacity eventually.
  2. Great Nicobar International Airport (GNIA), a greenfield airport with peak hour capacity of 4,000 passengers.
  3. Great Nicobar Gas and Solar Power Plant (Great Nicobar GSPP) with 450-MVA capacity, spread over 16,610 hectares.
  4. Two new greenfield coastal cities.

Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's Expert Appraisal Committee had granted the environmental clearance in November 2022 after considering the environmental risks and mitigation strategies.

History

Feasibility report, commissioned by NITI Aayog, was prepared by AECOM India. On 25 May 2021, terms of reference of project was granted after meeting held by Expert Appraisal Committee.

Existing infrastructure

INS Baaz is a naval base located at Campbell Bay. It comes under Andaman and Nicobar Command. It connects island with Car Nicobar and Port Blair Air bases.

Environmental impact

Great Nicobar Biosphere map.

After weighing the following pros and cons, benefits, risk and mitigation strategies, the project was granted the environmental clearance by the MoEFCC's Expert Appraisal Committee.

Flora

Due to this project, island will lose 12 to 20 hectares of mangrove cover, which the government will be compensating by afforestation in Haryana's Aravallis as per rules which allow for such remote compensatory afforestation.

Corals

To mitigate the risk of loss of corals, the corals will be translocated in the reefs around the island.

Fauna

The project area within 10 km radius of Galthea Bay is ecologically sensitive zone and home of rare fauna such as Leatherback sea turtle, salt water crocodile, Nicobar macaque. To mitigate the risk, the Indian MoEFCC's Expert Appraisal Committee has proposed three conservation sites for fauna - Little Nicobar, Menchal Island and Meroe Island. In August 2022, the Tribal Council of Campbell Bay, Little & Great Nicobar voiced their opposition to the creation of the wildlife sanctuaries. In a letter to the island's Deputy Commissioner, they said that they were not consulted about the sanctuaries, and pointed out that they have co-existed with the island's wildlife “long before the concept of a wildlife sanctuary was even conceived”.

Human

This project which includes two new planned cities in the region will increase population to over 350,000, which may cause a threat to the indigenous communities. After the environmental clearance by MoEFCC, some experts and researchers expressed concerns to Ministry of Tribal Affairs about vulnerability of indigenous communities on the island. Around 1761 individuals belonging to the indigenous Shompen and Nicobarese tribes live in the island. 853 square kilometres (approximately 92% of the total area) of the Great Nicobar Island is designated as tribal reserve under the Andaman and Nicobar Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation, 1956. This means that the land is meant for exclusive use of the community and others cannot access the area without their express permission. Around 10% of tribal reserve of the island will be affected by this project. Indigenous people live outside the project area and the tribal reserve also falls outside the project area. According to Forest Rights Act, 2006, Shompen people are legal sole authority to preserve the forest reserve. Survival International, a global NGO campaigning for indigenous rights, has said that the mega-development will put the Shompen at risk of being wiped out. In February 2024, 39 genocide experts from 13 countries warned that the development  “will be a death sentence for the Shompen, tantamount to the international crime of genocide”. They said that the proposed population increase and exposure to outside populations would lead to mass deaths because the Shompen have little to no immunity to infectious outside diseases.

Present status

  • 28 Jan 2023 - bids opened: Bids submitted by vendors for the ₹41,000-crore (US$8 b) mega international container transhipment port (ICTP) at Galathea Bay were opened today, phase-1 with 4 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) will be completed by 2028, and capacity will be eventually increased to 16 million TEU.
  • Ten Companies has filled Expression of Interest,

See also

References

  1. ^ Sirur, Simrin (2022-01-30). "Govt vision for Great Nicobar includes airport & township, some experts think it's 'nonsense'". ThePrint. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  2. Ramachandran, T. (10 October 2022). "Environmental path cleared for Great Nicobar mega project". Mongabay. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  3. "Public hearing on January 27 for Great Nicobar development project". Hindustan Times. 2021-12-31. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  4. ^ "Green nod for strategically-crucial Great Nicobar Island mega project, around 8.5 lakh trees to be felled". The New Indian Express. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Trees to be planted in Haryana's Aravallis to make for forest loss in Nicobar". Hindustan Times. 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  6. Ramachandran, T. "In maps: The extent of destruction being unleashed on the forests of Great Nicobar Island". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  7. "Strategic important project: MoEF gives green clearance for Centre's Rs 72,000 crore project in Greater Nicobar island". The Indian Express. 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  8. ^ "Environmental Clearance by GoI MoE". www.nic.in. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  9. "Campbell Bay Airport - VO94 - Airport Guide". AirportGuide. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  10. "4 Airports/Airstrips & 6 Water Aerodromes in Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Island Region up for Bidding under UDAN 4.0". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  11. ^ "Environmental Impact of this project". www.google.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  12. Karunakaran, Rishika Pardikar,Binu (2024-01-09). "TNM Exclusive: Nicobar tribal council opposes creation of wildlife sanctuaries". The News Minute. Retrieved 2024-02-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Sekhsaria, Pankaj. "'Planned destruction of Adivasi culture and lives': Experts raise alarm over Great Nicobar project". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  14. "Development of Great Nicobar: strategic imperative and ecological concerns". The Indian Express. 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  15. Dhillon, Amrit (2024-02-07). "India's plan for untouched Nicobar isles will be 'death sentence' for isolated tribe". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  16. Bids for Andaman's Rs 41,000-crore mega port project open today., Economic Times, 28 Jan 2023.
  17. Karthick, Tarun (2023-03-09). "Tight Slap on Rumour Mongers and Haters of the Proposed Mega Project at Great Nicobar Island as Ten Entities File EOI for Project". Nicobar Times. Retrieved 2023-03-10.

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