Congress general secretary (communication) Jairam Ramesh. File | Photo Credit: ANI
Congress on Sunday (January 5, 2025) called the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project a “recipe for environmental and humanitarian disaster” and said the Prime Minister should immediately order a moratorium and set up an independent panel to review it.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Modi government is pushing ahead with the project despite many objections raised by him earlier.
“The ₹ 72,000-crore mega infrastructure project in Great Nicobar Island is a recipe for environmental and humanitarian disaster. My discussions on this disaster with the Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change are all public,” he said. in the post on X.
The former Union Minister of Environment said the different components of the project are: an international port for transshipment of containers; the airport; power station; a large area of ​​green township and tourist areas.
“The entire project will destroy at least 33,000 hectares of pristine tropical forests. Now news is emerging that the project is proposed to be expanded to create – a tourist destination to facilitate a world-leading port city; a shipyard and ship repair facility; and an import port in other countries,” said Mr. Ramesh.
He said an additional 100 hectares of biodiverse forests would be destroyed as a result of the new proposals.
“This is incredible stupidity. The blatant hypocrisy of a Prime Minister who brags to the world about his commitment to environmental issues is exposed.
“There is no great mystery as to who will get these port contracts. If the Prime Minister wants to talk to him, he should issue an order immediately and establish an independent team to review the entire project,” said the Congress leader.
Published – January 06, 2025 06:58 am IST