India’s environmental tribunal approves the Great Nicobar development, dismissing ecological concerns and clearing a major port and airport project near the Malacca Strait.

MUMBAI: India’s environmental court has cleared a strategically significant infrastructure project on the ecologically sensitive Great Nicobar island.

The National Green Tribunal dismissed a batch of petitions objecting to the mega development on Monday, stating “adequate safeguards” had been taken into account.

The project involves building a transshipment port, airport, power plant and a township on the island. It is located close to the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to pour billions of dollars into connecting the island to global trade routes. The project was granted initial environmental approvals in 2022.

India’s environment minister last September called it a project of “strategic, defence and national importance”. He said it would transform Great Nicobar into a major hub of maritime and air connectivity in the Indian Ocean region.

The Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is seen within India as key to countering China’s growing influence. Activists say the infrastructure drive may adversely impact the island’s ecology.

They warn it could result in the felling of hundreds of thousands of trees and harm the interests of local tribal groups. The Nicobarese community has expressed fears over dispossession of their ancestral land.

This land was devastated in the 2004 tsunami. Lawmaker Jairam Ramesh from the opposition Congress party called the tribunal’s approval “deeply disappointing”.

“There is clear evidence that the project will have disastrous ecological impacts,” he said in a post on X. He also warned of “long-term consequences” from the development.

 The Sun Malaysia