Congress questions the credibility and integrity of the high-powered committee that looked into the Great Nicobar Project | India News

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the way the government is pushing ahead with the Great Nicobar Island Development Project, the Congress on Saturday asked the Center why this was so high-profile committeeThe (HPC) report on the project was “kept secret” as the original green permit granting process itself was not classified as “privileged and confidential”.
Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh asked this question and wrote to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, asking him how a community focused on promoting tourism, a commercial transshipment port and a power plant suddenly became one “Strategic projects” can be declared, about which no public debate can take place.
Ramesh was referring to the environment ministry’s counter-affidavit in the NGT recently in which it said that the approvals granted for the project did not violate the ICRZ (Island Coastal Regulation Zone) Notification, 2019 and that the tribunal’s order violating the green To check the project’s permits were not violated.
“I am shocked that the HPC, constituted by the environment ministry under the NGT directive to review environment and CRZ approvals, has not engaged an independent institution or expert despite the tribunal giving it the flexibility to do so.” wrote Ramesh, a former Union environment minister.
He pointed out that the members of the HPC include the NITI Aayog, which conceptualized the project; the project proponent Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO); a representative of the ministry’s expert committee, which recommended the approvals in the first place; and the ministry that issued the permits.
“Need I say anything more about the credibility and integrity of the HPC?” asked Ramesh, who had earlier exchanged details with Yadav on various aspects of the proposed Rs 72,000-crore project, which has plans for a transshipment port, an airport, a township and includes a power plant. The implementation will take place gradually in three phases over a period of almost 30 years.
Highlighting the NGT’s April 2023 order stating that a little over 7 sq km of the entire project area fell within the prohibited zone, Ramesh said, “The ministry’s counter affidavit now denies this to be the case.” What is the basis for the dramatic turnaround and what confidence can one have in the new facts that are presented?”
The ministry, meanwhile, has filed an application with the NGT and is seeking a larger group of six members to hear the pending petitions regarding the project.