An international cruise terminal to facilitate a “world” port city, “high-end” tourism infrastructure and a ship breaking yard are among the new additions to the proposed Rs 72,000-crore Great Nicobar Island mega-infrastructure project by the Union Ministry of Shipping, according to letters accessed by this author.
However, the government has also been denying Right to Information (RTI) requests for environmental clearances for this mega project, which includes a civil-military airport, on the grounds that it would affect India’s strategic and security concerns. It is unclear how the Ministry of Shipping’s new proposals will be compatible with such concerns.
In addition to the cruise terminal, the Ministry of Shipping has also requested 100 acres of waterfront land for a proposed shipbuilding and dismantling facility, and an export-import port, in a series of letters written to the Administration of Andaman and Nicobar and to the Union Ministry of Internal Affairs for the last eight months.
The existing Greater Nicobar project already includes a proposed international container transshipment port in Galathea Bay, an airport, a power plant and a huge greenfield tourism and municipal project that will spread over 130 square kilometers of land that is now a forest pristine tropical. The project is being implemented by Andaman and Nicobar Islands Built-in Improvement Company Ltd (ANIIDCO), based in Port Blair. Stage I forest clearance for diversion of 130 square kilometers of forest land was granted in October 2022 and was followed in November 2022 by coastal and environmental regulation zone (CRZ) clearances.
Great ambitions
In April 2024, Rajeev Kumar, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, wrote to the Chief Secretary of the A&N Administration, requesting another 100 acres of land with a 500 meter promenade for ship building and repair facilities in Campbell Bay, the administrative headquarters of Great Nicobar Island. This was followed in May by a request, again from Mr Kumar, to the A&N Shipping Secretary, seeking to allow Campbell Bay to be declared an export-import port to import construction materials from neighboring countries for the transshipment terminal at Galathea Bay.
More recently, on September 18, Union Shipping Secretary TK Ramachandran himself wrote a letter to the Union Interior Minister, stating that the vision was to “transform the island of Great Nicobar into a ‘Managed World City’. by Ports’ with a strategic focus on establishing a ‘Sustainable and high-end ecotourism destination’.” He also advocated for a domestic and international cruise terminal “to accommodate domestic and high-end tourists.”
Different visions
The responses, from the A&N chief secretary on October 23 and then from an ANIIDCO general manager on October 24, indicate a reluctance on their part to commit to these proposals. Their letters request the Union Shipping Ministry to engage a specialized consultant on its own to explore the techno-economic feasibility of the cruise terminal and discuss the issue of export-import port with the concerned Ministry.
They also argue that the repair of boats will not be consistent with the purpose of the greenfield municipality and “could undermine planned coastal activities, in particular the tourism infrastructure planned for Great Nicobar Island.” In a previous response in July, ANIIDCO had also pointed out that the coast is under a coastal regulation zone (CRZ 1a) as it has coral reefs along almost the entire eastern coast and that this would be a limitation to the activity ship repair
Sovereignty, security concerns
Concerns have already been raised about the environmental impact of the existing project, but multiple requests for further details have been denied under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act which invokes issues of sovereignty, integrity, security and concerns. strategic of the country. In November 2022, Mumbai-based researcher Prasad Kale filed an RTI application seeking information related to the clearances granted to the project from the Union Environment Ministry.
The Ministry refused, invoking Section 8(1)(a) and also relying on an order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs which stated that the proposed airport was a dual-use civil-military facility to be placed under the operational management of the Navy. India (through Letter DO No. 15020/24/2020- Plg. Cell dated 09/15/2022). This argument was confirmed by the Central Information Commissioner in his order of June 2024, which only ordered disclosure of information on compensatory afforestation proposed for the project.
“It is strange that information about these projects is denied on grounds of India’s sovereignty and integrity, as well as strategic and security interests,” says Debi Goenka of Conservation Movement Belief, which has challenged the project before the National Green Tribunal. “At most information about the airport could have been excluded, but there is no reason to refuse to disclose information about the other three.”
Contrary purposes
Given the MHA’s stance and constant denial of information on the grounds that the project required secrecy due to its strategic location and security concerns, the Ministry of Shipping’s recent proposals stand out. There is no mention, anywhere in the Ministry’s six-month correspondence about its new proposals, of these strategic concerns that have been used to deny information about environmental and other risks.
It also fails to take into account the fact that many of these activities (such as ship breaking, a cruise terminal and high-end international tourism) are themselves contrary to this strategic purpose. Emails sent to officials of the Ministry of Shipping and ANIIDCO seeking their clarification on the matter did not receive a response.
These projects, Goenka points out, will open up the Great Nicobar Island to foreign vessels and domestic and international tourists. “The policy followed since independence of keeping the Great Nicobar Island isolated from foreigners will be revoked,” he warns.
(Pankaj Sekhsaria is an author and editor whose most recent work is The Great Nicobar Betrayal.)
Published – January 5, 2025 04:57 am IST
