PM Modi marching to environmental disaster in Great Nicobar: Jairam Ramesh
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh condemns the Great Nicobar Island Project, calling it an ecological disaster. Multiple petitions challenge the project's compliance with environmental laws as political scrutiny intensifies.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pushing ahead with an "onward march to environmental disaster" in Great Nicobar, and said "the nation's ecological conscience is on trial". He renewed his attack on the Great Nicobar Island Project and said he would continue to raise the issue.
Ramesh said on X that there had been interest in his public engagement over the past few years on the project and what he described as its devastating impact on the island's biodiversity-rich ecosystem.
He shared an anthology that, he said, included most of his social media posts, a couple of brief interventions in Parliament, and letters to various Union ministers along with their replies.
He said five petitions filed by citizens and civil society groups are pending in the Calcutta High Court. According to Ramesh, these include challenges based on alleged violations of the Eco Sensitive Zone Notification for Campbell Bay National Park, the Eco Sensitive Zone Notification for Galathea National Park, and the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and its Rules, 2008.
He also listed a challenge based on alleged violations of the Coastal Zone Regulation Notification, 2019, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, as well as a challenge on various grounds relating to the National Green Tribunal's order dated February 16, 2026.
Repeating his criticism of the project, Ramesh said there would "undoubtedly" be more such public engagements as the prime minister continued with what he called an "onward march to environmental disaster" in Great Nicobar.
Last week, Ramesh wrote to Union minister Sarbanand Sonowal seeking clarifications on the development of a transhipment port under the project.
He has also written multiple letters to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, raising questions over the project and highlighting the "ecological havoc" he said it would cause.
In his letters to Yadav, Ramesh said the environmental impact assessment of the project in its entirety was of a demonstrably "dubious nature".
The Congress has also attacked the government over the project, saying the transhipment port at Galathea Bay is a recipe for ecological havoc and would lead to large-scale destruction of coral colonies.
Ramesh has written two letters to Singh, urging him to reconsider the rejection of the full expansion of the INS Baaz runway, and two letters to Oram, urging him to ensure that the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, are implemented both in appearance and in letter and spirit.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the government's argument that the project is about defence and a transhipment port is a "lie", and alleged that it is actually about benefiting one businessman so that he can build hotels and casinos on India's most irreplaceable ecological land.
He also released a video of over 16 minutes last month based on his visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in late April, and urged people to sign a petition telling the government that "we choose green over greed".
Together, Ramesh's latest remarks, the pending court cases and the Congress's wider criticism have kept the Great Nicobar project under political and legal scrutiny.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pushing ahead with an "onward march to environmental disaster" in Great Nicobar, and said "the nation's ecological conscience is on trial". He renewed his attack on the Great Nicobar Island Project and said he would continue to raise the issue.
Ramesh said on X that there had been interest in his public engagement over the past few years on the project and what he described as its devastating impact on the island's biodiversity-rich ecosystem.
He shared an anthology that, he said, included most of his social media posts, a couple of brief interventions in Parliament, and letters to various Union ministers along with their replies.
He said five petitions filed by citizens and civil society groups are pending in the Calcutta High Court. According to Ramesh, these include challenges based on alleged violations of the Eco Sensitive Zone Notification for Campbell Bay National Park, the Eco Sensitive Zone Notification for Galathea National Park, and the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and its Rules, 2008.
He also listed a challenge based on alleged violations of the Coastal Zone Regulation Notification, 2019, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, as well as a challenge on various grounds relating to the National Green Tribunal's order dated February 16, 2026.
Repeating his criticism of the project, Ramesh said there would "undoubtedly" be more such public engagements as the prime minister continued with what he called an "onward march to environmental disaster" in Great Nicobar.
Last week, Ramesh wrote to Union minister Sarbanand Sonowal seeking clarifications on the development of a transhipment port under the project.
He has also written multiple letters to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, raising questions over the project and highlighting the "ecological havoc" he said it would cause.
In his letters to Yadav, Ramesh said the environmental impact assessment of the project in its entirety was of a demonstrably "dubious nature".
The Congress has also attacked the government over the project, saying the transhipment port at Galathea Bay is a recipe for ecological havoc and would lead to large-scale destruction of coral colonies.
Ramesh has written two letters to Singh, urging him to reconsider the rejection of the full expansion of the INS Baaz runway, and two letters to Oram, urging him to ensure that the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, are implemented both in appearance and in letter and spirit.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the government's argument that the project is about defence and a transhipment port is a "lie", and alleged that it is actually about benefiting one businessman so that he can build hotels and casinos on India's most irreplaceable ecological land.
He also released a video of over 16 minutes last month based on his visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in late April, and urged people to sign a petition telling the government that "we choose green over greed".
Together, Ramesh's latest remarks, the pending court cases and the Congress's wider criticism have kept the Great Nicobar project under political and legal scrutiny.
