GREAT
NICOBAR ISLAND PROJECT – POLITY
News:
Great Nicobar Project may
see 9.64 lakh trees axed, says Minister
What's
in the news?
● The
Union government’s ambitious ₹72,000-crore Great Nicobar Project may see 9.64
lakh, and not 8.5 lakh, trees felled to enable the construction of a trans-shipment port, an international airport,
township development, and a 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant in the Great
Nicobar Island, according to a response by Minister of State (Environment)
Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the Rajya Sabha.
Key
takeaways:
● The
Great Nicobar Project, which is likely to come up over 130 square km of
pristine forest, has been accorded environmental clearance by an expert
committee.
● However,
this was challenged by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), following which the
NGT constituted an expert committee in April to investigate aspects of the
clearance.
Great
Nicobar Island Project:
● It
is a mega project to be implemented at the southern end of the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands.
Components:
● ₹35,000
crore transhipment port at Galathea Bay
● Dual-use
military-civil international airport - 22 sq. km. airport complex
● Power
plant
● Township
● Parallel-to-the-coast
mass rapid transport system and
● Free
trade zone and warehousing complex on the southwestern coast.
Andaman
and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO)
will be the nodal agency for the implementation of the Great Nicobar
Development plan.
Significance:
1.
Economic reasons:
● It
is equidistant from Colombo to the southwest and Port Klang and Singapore to the southeast.
● It
has a potential to become a hub for cargo ships.
2.
Strategic & Security reasons:
● Consolidation
of the Indian Ocean Region.
● Control
Chinese assertion in the Bay of Bengal and the Indo-Pacific.
Concerns:
● The
project intends to use about 114 sq. km of tribal reserve forest land.
According to MoEFCC, 8.5 lakh trees will have to be cut in Great Nicobar for
this project.
● The
northern end of the project falls in the biosphere reserve.
Go
back to basics:
Great Nicobar Island:
● Great
Nicobar is the southernmost and largest
of the Nicobar Islands of India.
● The
island of Sumatra is located 180 km to the south of Great Nicobar. It has an
area of about 1045 sq. km.
● According
to the 2011 census, it has a population of about 8,069. The island is home to
one of the most primitive tribes of India - the Shompens.
● The
island includes the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve (GNBR) comprising the Galathea National Park and the Campbell Bay
National Park.
● Indira Point
in the Great Nicobar Island is the southernmost point of India’s territory.