New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The Congress on Friday once again voiced its opposition to the Great Nicobar development project by flagging its adverse impact on the environment – an allegation repeatedly dismissed by the Centre as baseless.

Congress General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP K.C. Venugopal signed a petition as part of the “Nicobar Matters” campaign spearheaded by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, urging everyone to join the mission to protect biodiversity and the environment.

Venugopal said on X, “We cannot sit quietly as 1.5 crore trees are cut down, thousands of tribals lose their lands, and land many times the size of Delhi is handed over… for casinos, resorts and blatant exploitation. I have signed the #GreenOverGreed petition to protect the pristine Great Nicobar Island.”

“I stand with @RahulGandhiji in this mission to protect our biodiversity and environment, we will not let India’s natural heritage be sacrificed… I urge everyone to join this movement and challenge this takeover. https://rahulgandhi.in/nicobar-matters,” he said.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and took aim at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, alleging that it plans to “destroy” the island’s rich forest assets by felling thousands of trees.

In a two-minute video on social media platform X, LoP Gandhi launched a sharp attack on the project, describing it as “one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime”.

Countering allegations of environmental threat from the project, the Union Environment Ministry has maintained that the proposed Great Nicobar Island development project balances port-led growth with calibrated environmental safeguards and protection of indigenous communities.

The Union government said that the project seeks to transform Great Nicobar into a strategic maritime and economic hub by leveraging its proximity (about 40 nautical miles) to the East–West shipping route and reducing dependence on foreign transhipment ports, keeping in view the defence and national security purposes.

The Great Nicobar island is located about 150 km from the western entrance of the Strait of Malacca, a narrow stretch of water passing between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

This Strait is jointly managed by these three countries, and it is the shortest route between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, which also carries more than a quarter of global sea trade.

The government said in a statement that the project ensures optimised land use, coordinated ecological management, and long-term regional benefits, while remaining fully compliant with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations and statutory approvals.

“Key components of the projects include: An international Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) with a capacity of 14.2 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit); greenfield International Airport (4,000 Peak Hour Passengers-PHP); a 450 MVA (Megavolt Ampere) gas and solar-based power plant, and a new township spanning 16,610 hectares,” the statement added.

–IANS

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