Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam asks PM Modi to revoke clearance for Great Nicobar Island project

Estimated to cost ₹72,000 crore, the development project will see the felling of nearly 8.5 lakh trees

The ecological wealth of Great Nicobar Island cannot be recreated, the Rajya Sabha MP has said. | Photo Credit: File photo

Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revoke the clearance provided for the diversion of nearly 130.75 sq.km of forest area in the Great Nicobar island for a development project.

In a letter to Mr. Modi, the Communist Party of India MP said: “The government’s justification of compensatory afforestation is ill-advised as the ecological wealth destroyed... cannot be created elsewhere”.

The Union Environment Ministry has in principle granted its permission for the diversion of nearly 130.75 sq km forest area in the Great Nicobar island for a development project, where a trans-shipment port, an airport, a power plant and a greenfield township will come up. Estimated to cost ₹72,000 crore, the project by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO) will see the felling of nearly 8.5 lakh trees.

Mr. Viswam said the Great Nicobar Island was one of the best-preserved tropical forests in the world with 650 species of flora and 330 species of fauna, including endemic species. The project would damage the ecological balance of the region and the future of these flora and fauna would be  in jeopardy, the MP said.

“The time has come for the government to stop this practice of treating the environment as a commodity under its ownership and to understand that we are merely its ‘possessors’,” the letter said.  

The Member of Parliament said that the government’s obsession for the “easing of doing business” in such a manner would affect the ‘Right to Life’ guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. “It is our duty to preserve the environment for future generations”. 

He also drew attention to the BJP manifesto for General Election 2014 promising to “set up foolproof mechanisms for protection and preservation of wildlife” and “nurture the environment, institutions, people”.

“In light of above, I strongly urge you to ensure that the clearance provided is revoked at the earliest in the interest of our environment,” the letter to the Prime Minister said.