‘Afforestation argument bogus’: Congress seeks access to green panel report on Great Nicobar project

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday once again opposed the Great Nicobar Island development project, calling the compensatory afforestation argument “bogus” and seeking access to the report of a High-Powered Committee (HPC) set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to review the green nod to the project that entails felling of more than seven lakh trees.

In a letter to the Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, former Union Minister and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, “In the interests of good governance and informed public debate, please make the HPC report public” and “pause, reflect, and revisit the project in its present design and detail”.

Ramesh challenged the Frequently Asked Questions published by the Union government on the project, rubbishing the claim that potential ecological impacts of the project are being effectively handled through a detailed Environmental Management Plan.

He said that the HPC was constituted by the NGT in 2023 holding that there were “unanswered deficiencies” in the clearance and directing the Committee to re-visit the environmental clearance.

Opposing the Environment Ministry’s stand that the HPC report is confidential, Congress MP Ramesh said, “I am at a complete loss to understand the logic and legality behind the claim of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change that the HPC’s report is confidential. This goes against all basic principles of transparency and accountability to which you claim commitment.”

Questioning the confidentiality of the report, the Congress leader said, “When the original environmental clearance appraisal process was in public domain, is it legal to contend that the product of a court mandated reconsideration exercise is confidential?”

Ramesh, the Congress General Secretary Communications Incharge, said, “When the Environmental Impact Assessment reports, detailed project reports, master plan for the township and even the Detailed Project Report of the airport are in the public domain, what is the basis to contend that the HPC report is confidential? In the interests of good governance and informed public debate, please make the HPC report public.”

Seeking a rethink on the project, the Congress leader said, “The Great Nicobar Island’s biodiversity is globally unique, and new discoveries are being made from time to time. It is this unique ecosystem that will be destroyed by the Great Nicobar Island development project.”

“The compensatory afforestation argument is completely bogus, and you know it. Security experts have themselves written that the country’s essential security needs can be met without inflicting such ecological devastation. I once again urge you to pause, reflect, and revisit the project in its present design and detail,” Ramesh added.

Earlier, dismissing environmental concerns, the Union Environment Ministry said that the proposed Great Nicobar Island development project balances port-led growth with calibrated environmental safeguards and protection of indigenous communities.

The Project seeks to transform Great Nicobar into a strategic maritime and economic hub by leveraging its proximity (about 40 nautical miles) to the East–West shipping route and reducing dependence on foreign transshipment ports keeping in view the defence and national security purpose, it added.

“Key components of the projects include: An international Container Transhipment Terminal with a capacity of 14.2 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit); greenfield International Airport (4,000 Peak Hour Passengers-PHP); a 450 MVA (Megavolt Ampere) gas and solar-based power plant and a new township spanning 16,610 hectares,” the Ministry said in a statement.

IANS