Great Nicobar projects cleared in haste risky: Congress

Story by  PTI | Posted by  Ashhar Alam | Date 02-01-2026
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh

 

New Delhi

The Congress alleged on Friday that the government's hasty approval to projects worth crores in an ecologically-sensitive area like Great Nicobar will prove to be dangerous for the entire region.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said these projects will not only inflict irreparable damage on the fragile ecology there, but will also systematically push the survival of indigenous communities to the margins.

"The government's hasty approval of aggressive projects worth thousands of crores in the name of development in an ecologically extremely sensitive area like Great Nicobar, driven by greed and shortsightedness, will prove to be dangerous and long-term tragedy for the entire region.

"This entire area is already highly vulnerable to climate disasters, where even the slightest tampering with the natural balance can bring devastating consequences. Despite this, the government has ignored warnings, scientific assessments, and local realities to push these projects forward in the greed for profits of a few corporates," Ramesh said in a post on X.

The former Union environment minister also highlighted a book, titled "Great Nicobar: The Story of a Betrayal", claiming that it conducts an incisive examination of the government's role in the entire matter, policy negligence and the compromises being made with tribal rights through several research-based, factual and relevant articles.

"This compilation is a living documentary evidence of how, in the name of development, the future of an entire region and its people has been put at stake," he said.

The Congress has been against the Great Nicobar Development Project, claiming that it will ruin the fragile ecology of the area.