Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday hit back at the Modi government over the proposed Great Nicobar Island development project alleging that it threatens one of India’s most ecologically sensitive areas and risks irreversible damage to its forests, biodiversity and the communities residing there and said that it was being pursued not for strategic or economic reasons but to benefit a single businessman.
In a post on X, in which he shared the link of 16 minute video of his recent visit to Andaman and Nicobar Island on the eve of the World Environment Day to see what was happening in “one of India’s most beautiful and environmentally sensitive regions”.
He had visited the Andaman and Nicobar islands in April this year.
The Gandhi scion also urged citizens, especially young Indians, to oppose the project and support a petition under the slogan “Green Over Greed”.
Rahul Gandhi’s, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged that more than 1.5 crore trees, ancient coral reefs and irreplaceable rainforests were being sacrificed for commercial interests.
The Rae Bareli MP alleged that the government’s argument that the project was essential for national defence and a transshipment port was “misleading”.
The former Congress chief stated that if defence was the priority, the government should expand INS Baaz, the strategically located naval air station in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
He said the Navy had sought expansion of the facility for several years and that the Congress would fully support such a move.
He also fired salvos at the government and questioned the need for another transshipment port when a major facility was already being developed in Kerala.
The Congress leader alleged that the larger objective was to facilitate hotels, casinos and real estate ventures in an ecologically sensitive region.
He accused the government of using strategic concerns as a cover for commercial interests linked to one industrialist.
The Congress leader said the islands should be developed as a global model for sustainable tourism and environmentally balanced growth.
He said that settlers and tribal communities were not being treated fairly and that provisions of the Forest Rights Act were being violated.
In the video, Rahul Gandhi can be seen interacting with locals and saying, “What they are going to do is illegally cut thousands and thousands of trees across this 161 square kms of rainforest, that’s four times the size of New Delhi! Ship these, earn billions of dollars and use them to build you hotels, casinos and little real estate play.”
“The point is they want to help Mr (Gautam) Adani and these criminals are hiding behind the navy, behind the forces to steal Indian land,” he alleged.
“If you want to strengthen India’s defence capabilities, then give INS Baaz the expansion it has been seeking for the past five years,” Rahul Gandhi said in the video.
Rahul Gandhi asserted that local communities were being stripped of their land rights, claiming that many residents were made to sign No Objection Certificates (NOCs) without fully understanding what they were consenting to.
The Great Nicobar Project is a Rs 92,000-crore mega-infrastructure and strategic initiative proposed by the Indian government aimed at transforming Great Nicobar Island into a major maritime, economic, and defence hub in the Indo-Pacific region.