The Crossbill News Desk
Growing opposition has emerged against the Centre’s proposed mega infrastructure projects on Great Nicobar Island, with an online petition demanding the withdrawal of the plans crossing more than 2.10 lakh signatures by Thursday night (May 21).
Environmentalists, researchers and citizens have continued to raise concerns over the ecological and social consequences of the proposed developments in the ecologically sensitive island region, The Wire reported.
As of 7 pm on May 21, the petition — floated more than a year ago on Change.Org — had garnered 2,10,614 signatures.
The petition highlights the “extensive deforestation” that the projects will cause and stresses on the need to promote sustainable alternatives for development on the island.
The Union government has planned a slew of infrastructure projects on Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. These include an international transshipment container terminal, a greenfield airport, a township and a power plant.
Citizens including biologists, social scientists, conservationists and retired civil servants have raised numerous concerns such as the government’s underestimation of the trees that are likely to be felled for the projects, a flawed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), ignoring the dissent of local communities, and bypassing laws including the Forest Rights Act to provide permissions for the implementation of the projects.
The petition reiterates several of these concerns: the deforestation of 130 sq. km of rainforest by felling 9.6 lakh trees (though some experts peg this number at close to one million), that the port project will threaten biodiversity at Galathea Bay, in the southeastern part of the island, that the projects will displace and affect the indigenous tribes (the Shompen and Nicobarese), that the projects lack thorough impact assessments (ecological, social and environmental), and that these have been proposed in a region that witnesses high seismic activity and is vulnerable to tsunamis.
“The project encompasses urban development through residential townships and hotels, highlighting business and economic advantages. However, this focus on economic growth comes at the expense of severe ecological and social impacts that cannot be overlooked,” the petition noted.
The petition initiated by PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas, a sustainable rural development strategy proposed by former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam) is addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and the National Board for Wild Life under the Union environment ministry.
Environmentalists, researchers and citizens have continued to raise concerns over the ecological and social consequences of the proposed developments in the ecologically sensitive island region, The Wire reported.
As of 7 pm on May 21, the petition — floated more than a year ago on Change.Org — had garnered 2,10,614 signatures.
The petition highlights the “extensive deforestation” that the projects will cause and stresses on the need to promote sustainable alternatives for development on the island.
The Union government has planned a slew of infrastructure projects on Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. These include an international transshipment container terminal, a greenfield airport, a township and a power plant.
Citizens including biologists, social scientists, conservationists and retired civil servants have raised numerous concerns such as the government’s underestimation of the trees that are likely to be felled for the projects, a flawed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), ignoring the dissent of local communities, and bypassing laws including the Forest Rights Act to provide permissions for the implementation of the projects.
The petition reiterates several of these concerns: the deforestation of 130 sq. km of rainforest by felling 9.6 lakh trees (though some experts peg this number at close to one million), that the port project will threaten biodiversity at Galathea Bay, in the southeastern part of the island, that the projects will displace and affect the indigenous tribes (the Shompen and Nicobarese), that the projects lack thorough impact assessments (ecological, social and environmental), and that these have been proposed in a region that witnesses high seismic activity and is vulnerable to tsunamis.
“The project encompasses urban development through residential townships and hotels, highlighting business and economic advantages. However, this focus on economic growth comes at the expense of severe ecological and social impacts that cannot be overlooked,” the petition noted.
The petition initiated by PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas, a sustainable rural development strategy proposed by former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam) is addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and the National Board for Wild Life under the Union environment ministry.
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