New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has rejected the petitions against the Rs 80,000 crore mega project to be implemented in Great Nicobar Island. The verdict of a six-judge special bench headed by Justice Prakash Srivastava observed that there were adequate safeguards in the environmental clearance of the project. The tribunal assessed that the project is essential for India's security and strategic movements. Its location on the international trade route will provide huge economic and defence benefits to the country. The tribunal also pointed out that a high-powered committee had studied the project. The tribunal directed the authorities to ensure that the strict conditions stipulated at the time of granting the environmental clearance are followed.
The tribunal also observed that there may be some environmental impacts during the development activities, but there are ways to mitigate them in the project.
The project is a massive project that includes an international transhipment port, a greenfield international airport, a township, and a 450 MW gas-solar power plant. It is being implemented in an area of 166 square kilometres. For this, about 130 square kilometres of forest land will have to be acquired.
Environmentalists and experts had strongly opposed the project. The petitioners had argued that the island's mangroves, coral reefs, and turtle breeding grounds would be destroyed, and that it would adversely affect the lives of the tribal communities of Shompen and Nicobarese. They also pointed out violations of the Coastal Zone Management Act. However, the Green Tribunal allowed the project to go ahead, citing the larger interest and defence needs of the country. The project received environmental clearance in November 2022 and in-principle forest clearance in October 2022.