‘Recipe for ecological disaster’: Congress writes to Rajnath Singh flagging environmental concerns over Great Nicobar project

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday wrote to defence minister Rajnath Singh opposing the Great Nicobar Island Project, calling it a “recipe for ecological disaster” and urging the government to consider alternative defence infrastructure proposals with lower environmental costs.In his letter, Ramesh argued that while strengthening India’s strategic and military capabilities was essential, the Great Nicobar project in its current form was being justified on “overriding security considerations” despite being “essentially a commercial venture” that could severely damage the region’s fragile ecology and tribal rights.Sharing the letter on X, the Congress leader said, “After writing to the Union minister of environment, forests, & climate change and the Union minister of tribal affairs, I have written to the Raksha Mantri on the Great Nicobar Island Project.”Ramesh, a former environment minister, said the government had issued a press note titled ‘The Great Nicobar Island Project: FAQs’ on May 1. He claimed the document presented a “completely false picture” of the environmental clearance process and misrepresented compliance with provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.“On May 10, 2026, I had written to the Union minister of wnvironment, forests and climate change on how these FAQs present a ‘completely false picture’ on the project's environmental clearances which, in reality, have been given on very dubious grounds,” he said.Referring to tribal rights concerns, Ramesh said he had also written to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs on May 13, alleging that the project clearance process “flagrantly violate, in letter and spirit, the individual and collective rights given to tribal communities by Parliament.”In his letter to the defence minister, he said, “Let me straightaway say that there can be no two opinions on the need to strengthen our nation's defences. There can also be no two opinions on the need to project India's strategic capabilities in a credible manner.”However, he suggested that India could strengthen its military presence in the region through existing facilities and infrastructure expansion projects that would cause comparatively less environmental damage.Ramesh pointed out that INS Baaz in Campbell Bay, commissioned in 2012, had plans pending for nearly five years to extend its runway and build a naval jetty. He argued these proposals would have “far less adverse environmental impacts”.He also referred to existing assets under the Andaman and Nicobar Command, including INS Kardip, INS Kohassa, INS Utkrosh, INS Jarawa and the Car Nicobar Air Force Station, saying they could be expanded with significantly lower ecological costs.Questioning the strategic justification of the larger project, Ramesh said, “Third, the transshipment port and the township that are an essential part of the Great Nicobar Island Project do not enhance our country's military capability in any way. Yet, now that suddenly has emerged as a major justification for them.”“Finally, I wish to reiterate that the Great Nicobar Island Project in its present shape and form is a recipe for ecological disaster,” he added.Jairam urged Singh to “seriously consider the above alternatives” which, he said, had also been proposed by distinguished naval officers in their writings.