New Delhi, September 8: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has launched a scathing attack on the Union government over its ambitious ₹72,000 crore Great Nicobar infrastructure project, describing it as a “planned misadventure” that poses an existential threat to the island’s indigenous communities while making “a mockery of legal and deliberative processes.” In a hard-hitting article published in The Hindu, titled “The Making of an Ecological Disaster in the Nicobar”, Gandhi argued that the project imperils not just a fragile ecosystem but also the survival of the Shompen and Nicobarese tribes, who have lived on the island for generations.
“The collective conscience cannot, and must not, stay silent when the very survival of the Shompen and Nicobarese tribes is at stake. Our commitment to future generations cannot permit this large-scale destruction of a most unique ecosystem. We must raise our voice against this travesty of justice and this betrayal of our national values,” she wrote.
Her remarks came just days after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi urged Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram to investigate alleged violations of the Forest Rights Act in the clearances granted to the project. Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh has also repeatedly expressed alarm, calling the project destructive for both ecology and tribal rights.
Sonia Gandhi highlighted that the project would permanently displace the Nicobarese, who were already uprooted during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, while the Shompen — a particularly vulnerable tribal group — face an even graver threat. She criticised the government for denotifying parts of the Shompen tribal reserve and opening up their forest habitat to large-scale construction, tourism and population inflows. “Ultimately, the Shompen will find themselves cut off from their ancestral lands and unable to sustain their social and economic existence,” she said.
The Congress leader accused the government of bypassing key constitutional and statutory safeguards meant to protect tribal rights. “The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was not consulted, despite the constitutional mandate under Article 338A. The Tribal Council’s no-objection letter was rushed through and later revoked, citing pressure tactics. The Forest Rights Act of 2006, which empowers the Shompen as custodians of their forests, has been blatantly ignored,” she charged.
From an environmental perspective, Gandhi termed the project a “humanitarian catastrophe,” citing official estimates that 8.5 lakh trees would be cut, while independent studies predict losses between 32 lakh and 58 lakh trees. The government’s proposal of compensatory afforestation, she argued, cannot substitute for old-growth rainforest ecosystems unique to the Nicobar archipelago.
She also pointed to flaws in biodiversity assessments, claiming that turtle nesting sites were surveyed in the off-season and that drones used to study dugong habitats were incapable of measuring deeper waters. Concerns raised by primatologists about the endangered Nicobar long-tailed macaque, she noted, were ignored. “The government has manipulated scientific truth through a High-Powered Committee, the findings of which have not been made public,” she alleged.
Beyond ecological and tribal rights, Gandhi flagged seismic vulnerabilities, warning that the island sits in an earthquake-prone zone. Locating a transshipment port, international airport, township and power plant here, she argued, not only risks investment and infrastructure but also human lives. “It is unconscionable that one of India’s most vulnerable groups may have to pay the ultimate price for this recklessness,” she said.
Rahul Gandhi amplified his mother’s article on X, stating that it exposed the “injustices inflicted on Nicobar’s people and its delicate ecosystem.” The Great Nicobar “Holistic Development Project,” first cleared in 2022, includes a transshipment terminal, an international airport, a 130 sq km township and a 450 MVA gas and solar power plant across 166 sq km of land. While the government insists it will boost connectivity and economic growth, opposition leaders and environmentalists warn that it risks erasing an irreplaceable heritage.
As Sonia Gandhi concluded in her article, “Ecologically, this project is nothing short of an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe. Our laws are being mocked wholesale. And unconscionably, one of the country’s most vulnerable groups may have to pay the ultimate price for it.”