A bench of the National Green Tribunal giving its green signal to the massive and massively controversial Great Nicobar Island mega project does not come as a surprise. In matters of strategic importance, environmental concerns, no matter how serious, usually play second fiddle. This was borne out, once again, by the trajectory of this particular case. Environmental clearance for the project had already been granted four years ago: the NGT bench was hearing petitions that had been filed in response to that step. In 2023, another NGT bench had constituted a high-powered committee to look into the attendant ecological concerns as well as the allegation that the parts of the project encroach on ecologically-protected coastal areas. The NGT dismissed these points, including the latter charge, taking note of the submission by the HPC that had apparently found that coastal regulation zone stipulations were not being violated. Notably, one of the contentions by the petitioners was that the government had made a mistake in limiting the HPC’s terms of reference to just three issues: even these three issues, they alleged, had not been scrutinised adequately.
Balance between seemingly conflicting imperatives has been identified as a key element in the NGT’s order. This is significant and its import transcends the current case. Often, the scale of development is such that it dwarfs associated ecological challenges. The project in Great Nicobar is worth Rs 92,000 crore, is set to cover 166 square kilometres, and will involve the building of a transhipment port, township, airport and power plant. The establishment of a naval deep-water port and airport is of strategic and military significance; it is expected to bolster India’s tri-services command in the Andaman and Nicobar isles. But the seduction of the public narrative with the scope and the strategic importance of the project would lead to the creation of blind spots: the project is expected to upend the lives of vulnerable indigenous people such as the Nicobarese and the Shompen and lead to deep ecological scarring: 130 square kilometres of forest land are to be diverted and close to a million trees slaughtered, with proportionate adverse impact on forest and marine lives and ecosystems. The destruction of these precious natural resources would undoubtedly invite nature’s wrath in a world lashed by climate change. But nature and
indigenous lives are the proverbial sacrificial lambs in the current template of development pursued by India.