A public hearing for the Draft Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report for the proposed international airport on the Great Nicobar island was held in Campbell Bay on June 28, 2024. This hearing comes amid strong opposition demanding the immediate withdrawal of The Great Nicobar development project.
According to the SIA, the government must acquire more than 400 hectares of private land for the airport. This will relocate around 234 families from Shastri Nagar and Gandhi Nagar villages. Despite the hearing, the villagers lack clarity about their share in the swap.
“We trust the current government but have not been given a proper answer yet. We do have doubts, are worried, and are scared of being left homeless. After facing so many crises over generations, if we aren’t made a part of this project and given a share in the development, then it will be a great injustice against us”, says E S Rajesh, Pramukh of the Panchayat Samiti at Campbell Bay
The Greenfield International Airport is a part of the broader Great Nicobar development project, which also includes an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) on the eastern side of Galathea Bay, a 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant on the western side, and a 150 sq km township.
Since its inception, the project has faced national and international scrutiny for its potential impact on the island’s ecology and tribal groups.
The Great Nicobar Island: A background
The Great Nicobar Island is the southernmost region of India. It is a part of the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago and is the largest of the Nicobar group of islands.
The island is predominantly hilly, draped with a thick rainforest and lined by mangroves at its coasts. The remoteness of this island endows it with rich endemic biodiversity. The island’s tropical virgin forests, covering 1,038.70 hectares, are unique to the world, housing 1,767 species of animals. These species represent 23% of the total diversity of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands comprising 558 terrestrial and 1,209 marine species, with several endemics like 11 mammals, 32 birds, 7 reptiles, and 4 amphibians. The islands also boast pristine coral reefs with 273 documented species of stony corals, supporting over 256 fish species along the eastern coast alone.
Galathea Bay, in the island’s southern region, is one of the few nesting sites in the world for the endangered Leatherback turtles and the Nicobar Megapode, both listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Apart from the flora and fauna, three distinct communities also call these lands their home. It includes the Shompen, The Nicobarese and the settler communities.
The Shompens, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), have lived on the island for around 10,000 years. They are semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, who also practice horticultural cultivation and pig rearing. They live in different groups and subgroups in the northeastern, western, southern and central regions. Their immediate neighbours, the Nicobarese, are also an indigenous tribal group who have traditionally been coastal dwellers. After the 2004 Tsunami, they have been relocated to Afra Bay on the North Coast and Campbell Bay. The Settler Community consists of the descendants of ex-servicemen who were settled on the islands during the 60s and 70s, along with the individuals who migrated from different states of India.
In January 1989, 85% of Great Nicobar was declared a biosphere reserve due to its rich biodiversity. It was included in UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere program in 2013 for harbouring a wide spectrum of ecosystems. Critics argue that the development project poses irreversible socio-ecological risks to the island’s fragile ecosystem.
Criticism against the Project
The project will occupy 16,610 hectares of land, accounting for more than 14% of the island. The Union Environment Ministry granted stage-I forest clearance (FC) on October 27, 2022, for the diversion of 130.75 sq km of forest land, which will lead to the felling of approximately 9.6 lakh trees. Compensatory afforestation will be done at 261.5 sq. km of land in Haryana.
Galathea Bay, the primary nesting site for the Leatherback Turtles and the Megapode, was denotified in January 2021. To compensate for the loss of biodiversity, three new sanctuaries for the Leatherback turtles, displaced corals and Megapodes have been planned at Little Nicobar Island, Meroe Island and Menchal Island respectively, with restricted access.
In June 2024, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh demanded that all clearances be halted and called for an unbiased assessment of the project. Before this, a former Tribal Affairs Secretary to the Andhra Pradesh government, E.A.S. Sarma in a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, alleged noncompliance with the Forest Rights Act (FRA) during the forest clearance procedure, and raised the issue of compensatory afforestation in Haryana. His letter also stresses the failure of the administration to consult the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) whilst their disregard towards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 (PAT56) as required by the Constitution.
In April 2024 too, a group of experts wrote to the NCST to scrap the project owing to violations of Indigenous rights and misrepresentation of facts. The video report, which had comments from several stakeholders, was addressed in the letter. Prof. Vishvajit Pandya, one of the signatories, was a member of the Empowered Committee of the union territory administration, which made the recommendation to de-notify the tribal reserve area. The letter stated that the committee’s conclusion did not take into account the video report that he and his team presented and ignored the responses of the Nicobarese, the Shompen, and even the settlers.
The letter also highlighted Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and international human rights standards that address the welfare of indigenous peoples and local communities, to which India is a signatory. Since the Nicobarese are being denied their fundamental right to their traditional land for home and livelihood, as guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration’s indifference to their appeals over a two-decade period raises additional concerns, such as those raised by clause 3(1)(g) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Manish Chandi, a social ecologist who has worked with the Indigenous islanders for more than two decades, was one of the signatories of the letter. He explains that forests have been essential for the sustenance of the tribes, predominantly the Shompens. There are 3-4 Shompen communities on the site proposed for the project. The construction activities in the hunting and foraging area of Shompens of the southern region will force them to move upwards. This will put them in direct conflict with the Shompen communities in the Northern and Central regions, thus disrupting their social structure.
“The project will destroy the biodiversity of the islands. The original dwellers have coexisted with the forest and the fauna all their lives. The forest gives them so much and they are making use of that space. Proper consultations should have been made with the Indigenous people and the development should have been in line with their needs. Why should the thriving natural habitats be destroyed to make way for new sanctuaries?”, Dr Chandi told Maktoob.
The three sanctuaries —13.75 sq. km of Little Nicobar and the whole of the Meroe and Menchal islands— are ancestral properties of the Nicobarese, who were not consulted. The tribe has used the resources from these islands for generations and considers them sacred. The local tribal council expressed their displeasure with the decision in a letter to the Deputy Commissioner for the Nicobar district.
“We were assured that our lands would not be affected by the transhipment port. But we were not consulted about our ancestral lands. I raised these points during the previous public hearing but I haven’t received any response yet”, says Barnabas Manju, chairman of the tribal council of Great Nicobar and Little Nicobar Island.
The tribal council also withdrew its No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the diversion of the forest land in November 2022. Their letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) alleges that important information was concealed from the chairman and the process was rushed, thus not granting enough time for consultation with the community.
The letter states, ‘We had mentioned that we do not want tourism or any other development on our land and wish to go back to our pre-tsunami villages of Chingenh and Pulo Bhabhi area, an appeal that we have repeatedly made for the past several years.’
Lapses in Local Understanding
Genocide experts from around the world appealed to President Murmu in February 2024 to drop this project, stating that it would lead to the extinction of the uncontacted Shompens. In contrast, the non-tribal residents of the islands echo a conspiracy remark similar to the one made by Ananta Nayak, the acting vice-chairperson of the NCST. Chandi attributes this to the lack of awareness about the indigenous culture amongst the settlers.
“The islanders never had an opportunity to learn about the islands, its geography and its people. There has been a huge separation between the tribals and the non-tribals because of the belief that the former should be left undisturbed. While the belief is true, there had to be an established system for the people to understand each other’s lifestyles, backgrounds and stories. The islands are such a classic example of different cultures coexisting together, but there has not been a positive enforcement of Indigenous knowledge among the settler community which creates such misunderstandings”, Chandi said.
The Trilemma: The Settlers, The Nicobarese and The Shompens
Regardless of the controversy surrounding the project, the settler community optimistically awaits its arrival. The affected villagers demand fair compensation, resettlement on the new land, and job security for at least one member of the farming community.
“The settlers haven’t encroached on the area. The government has settled them here. The locals are looking forward to the jobs, education, and medical facilities that the development will bring, and it is their right. They have been here for generations without basic amenities, and have struggled to a great extent after the 2004 tsunami. So, if we are being relocated, we want that to be done with dignity within the island itself”, added Rajesh.
On the other hand, the Nicobarese want to preserve their traditions and go back to their pre-tsunami villages.
“Many of our elders died during the tsunami, and many of our old customs were lost due to this. We do not oppose important infrastructure like hospitals, educational institutes etc. as it will make it easier for us. But no harm should be caused to our villages. Our villages are being taken up by the projects and it was not communicated to us. We want to go back to our old villages. We are unable to follow our traditional rituals and festivals among the non-tribals”, says Manju.
According to the video report submitted to the empowered committee, The Shompens ‘do not want any development in their areas and warned developers to stay out of their land’
In June, the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry announced that it would review the documentation related to the forest clearance for the Great Nicobar Island. Based on its findings, it would then decide on the next course of action.
Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, in conversation with The Hindu, said, “This is a specific case. It will take time to go through the files. But we will be looking into the issues that have been raised by calling for the relevant files and documents and then we can proceed with determining the way ahead.”
