PM pushing Great Nicobar project despite evidence of disastrous ecological impact: Jairam Ramesh

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "pushing" the Great Nicobar Integrated Development Project aggressively in the face of clear and mounting evidence of its "disastrous" ecological and humanitarian impacts. Ramesh, who is also a former Union environment minister, has been asserting that the present design of the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project "endangers ecology" in a "needlessly unacceptable manner". He has been calling for the project to be paused and reviewed.

Citing a mini-essay on the Great Nicobar Integrated Development Project by a journalist, Ramesh said, "The non-biological PM is pushing this project aggressively in the face of clear and mounting evidence of its disastrous ecological and humanitarian impacts."

"Hopefully this mini-essay will trigger more such field reports on the wanton destruction of an ecosystem of extraordinarily rich biodiversity," Ramesh said, sharing the media report.

Ramesh and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav have had a series of exchanges via letters on the project.

In a letter to Yadav, Ramesh had also questioned the credibility, composition and conclusions of a high-powered committee (HPC) tasked to revisit the environmental clearances granted to the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project.

Ramesh had hit back on August 27 at the Environment Ministry's assertion that clearances for the Great Nicobar Island project were granted after careful consideration, saying the Environmental Impact Assessment study for it appears to have been primed to ensure its clearance in the form proposed by the NITI Aayog.

In a 10-page letter to Yadav, Ramesh had said even if one were to accept the strategic and defence importance of the project, it would not preclude any discussion of its impact on the island's tribal communities and natural ecosystem.