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The island of Great Nicobar is the southernmost landmass of India. It is known for its lush, rainforests, unspoiled beaches and a variety of flora and fauna endemic to the islands, evolved over millions of years of isolation from other landmasses.
It is also home to people, including members of the Nicobarese and Shompen tribes. For years, these communities maintained a balance with the island and its natural resources, sustaining themselves through a variety of means, including hunting and foraging.
But a colossal new development project threatens to upset this balance and wreck the island’s ecology, experts fear. The Rs 72,000-crore project will include a transshipment terminal, a power plant, an international airport and a new township. To build it, the government will take over stretches of shoreline and forest, and areas demarcated as tribal reserve.
While locals fear that the project will destroy their way of life, and their links to their land, experts say the government has ignored key regulations while pushing the project through.
Vaishnavi Rathore travelled to Great Nicobar to speak to residents of the islands, experts and officials, and understand the depth of their anxieties over the proposed project, even though some hope it will bring development to the remote region.
“Being on the island for just about a week showed me how hard it is to live there, in terms of travel, as well as health and educational facilities,” Rathore said.
“It was easy to understand why development was a demand for many of the islanders. But as I spoke with tribal communities, settlers from the mainland and the administration, I sensed that the islanders’ vision of development was very different from the mega, top-down development that is coming up.”
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Ajay Krishnan,
Senior Editor
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