Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday came down heavily on the Union government for choosing a high-powered committee with no independent member to review the Great Nicobar Island Development Project following an order from the National Green Tribunal.
In a letter to Union Environment Minister Bhpender Yadav, Ramesh said he was shocked to find out that the panel has no independent individual or institution as its members when the NGT has given flexibility to do so.
The high powered committee comprises members from NITI Aayog that conceived the mega-scheme; the project proponent Andaman and Nicobar Island Development Corporation; a representative of the Expert Appraisal Committee that recommended clearances to the contentious project and ministry officials.
“Need I say anything on the credibility and integrity of the high powered committee,” said Ramesh, a former union environment minister.
The Rs 72,000 crore infrastructure project that includes a Rs 40,000 crore transshipment port at Galathea Bay along with an airport, a power plant and a greenfield township spread over 160 sq km of land remains a controversial one from the start with the critics claiming that it will destroy the pristine island ecology.
The Union government, on the other hand, pushes for the project citing infrastructure needs and strategic requirements.
“According to the NGT’s order of April 2023, slightly over 7 sq km of the total project area fall in the prohibited zone. Now the ministry’s counter-affidavit denies that. What’s the basis of the dramatic U-turn and what confidence can be placed on the new set of facts presented?,” Ramesh questioned?
Earlier this week, the ministry filed an affidavit in the eastern branch of the NGT claiming that the clearances granted to the project didn’t violate the Island Coastal Regulation Zone notification 2019 and NGT order to revisit the green clearance has been complied with.
The Congress leader said the ministry diluted the terms of reference for the review panel by limiting its scope to three deficiencies cited by the NGT even though the court cited those deficiencies only as “instances.” Also the high powered panel’s report has not been made public as the ministry classified it as “privileged and confidential."