Centre submits HPC report on Great Nicobar project

The Union Environment Ministry submitted, in a sealed envelope, the report of a high-powered committee (HPC) that was formed to revisit the Great Nicobar Island mega infrastructure project’s environmental clearance, to a six-member bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava.

The environment ministry also submitted in an additional affidavit filed before the NGT that Rs 80 crore has already been released till March-end towards wildlife conservation plans, healthcare, as prescribed in the conditions of statutory environmental clearances for the mega project. This includes funds released for leatherback sea turtle, Nicobar megapode conservation; conservation plans for long-tailed macaque, coconut crab, and conservation of native flora and fauna, among other plans.

The bench granted time to the applicant’s counsel to file a rejoinder to the environment ministry’s additional affidavit and adjourned the matter. “It is humbly submitted that the report of the high-powered committee, along with the relevant documents, has been brought in a sealed envelope for the kind perusal of this Tribunal,” the environment ministry stated in its affidavit.

A six-member bench headed by Justice Shrivastava was hearing on-going matters filed by environmental activist and researcher Ashish Kothari on alleged environmental violations in the project.

The environment ministry’s additional affidavit was filed in response to NGT’s directions in March to place on record the follow-up actions and outcomes after the HPC revisited the project’s statutory environmental clearance.

The HPC was formed in April 2023 on the orders of the NGT to address “unanswered deficiencies” regarding impact of the mega project involving a port and airport pertaining to coral conservation, location of the port in a prohibited area and on limited baseline data collection. The NGT had not interfered with the environmental and forest clearances granted for the project.

The HPC had concluded that the project’s environmental clearance and coastal regulation zone clearance adhered to the instant statutory provisions. It had said that no part of the project fell in out of bounds coastally sensitive areas, while regarding corals, it had said citing the Zoological Survey of India that 16,510 coral colonies close to the project needed to translocated, as per an affidavit filed the environment ministry last year. The HPC’s report is yet to be made public as the Centre has deemed it confidential.

The Rs 81,000-crore project involves building of an integrated international container transshipment terminal, a township, a civil and military use airport and a 450 MVA gas- and solar-based power plant. Spread over 166 sq km, it will require diversion of 130.75 sq km of forests, felling of over a million trees.