Jairam Ramesh Raises Environmental Concerns Over Great Nicobar Airport Project
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh has once again raised strong environmental concerns over the proposed Great Nicobar Island development project, particularly the planned greenfield international airport at Galathea Bay. He has urged the government to reconsider the project’s design, warning that it could cause irreversible ecological damage to one of India’s most fragile island ecosystems.
Ramesh has written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, arguing that the construction of a completely new airport in Great Nicobar could severely impact dense tropical forests, coral ecosystems, and endangered wildlife. Instead, he has suggested expanding the existing INS Baaz airstrip as a less destructive alternative that would still meet strategic and defence requirements without large-scale environmental loss.
Concerns Over Fragile Ecosystem
According to Ramesh, Great Nicobar Island is not an ordinary development site but a highly sensitive ecological zone. The island is recognised as an Important Bird Area and an Endemic Bird Area, and lies along two major migratory bird routes—the Central Asian Flyway and the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. He has argued that these ecological characteristics were not adequately assessed in the environmental impact studies for the project.
He has also questioned the adequacy of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), claiming it relies on limited, single-season data rather than comprehensive multi-season ecological studies. In his view, such a narrow assessment fails to capture the true long-term environmental risks of a project of this scale.
Allegations of Weak Environmental Review
Ramesh has further alleged that the project’s environmental clearance process has serious shortcomings, describing it as insufficient and poorly transparent. He has demanded the release of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) report related to the project, stating that public access to scientific and environmental findings is essential for informed decision-making.
He has also criticised the government’s claims that ecological impacts have been fully assessed and mitigated, calling such assurances incomplete and unconvincing in the absence of detailed, publicly available studies.
Alternative Proposal: Expand INS Baaz
A key part of Ramesh’s argument is the proposal to expand the existing INS Baaz airstrip instead of constructing a new airport. He maintains that upgrading the current facility would significantly reduce deforestation and ecological disruption while still serving strategic and logistical needs in the Andaman and Nicobar region.
Broader Environmental Debate
The Great Nicobar Island development project—which includes an international airport, a transshipment port, a power plant, and a planned township—has been widely debated due to its potential impact on biodiversity and indigenous communities.
Environmental experts and activists have repeatedly warned that large-scale infrastructure could lead to deforestation, coral reef destruction, and disruption of habitats of endangered species, including leatherback turtles and Nicobar macaques. Critics also highlight risks to indigenous communities such as the Shompen, whose traditional lands overlap with parts of the project area.
Conclusion
Jairam Ramesh’s renewed criticism adds to growing opposition voices questioning whether the strategic benefits of the Great Nicobar airport justify its environmental cost. The debate now centres on balancing India’s infrastructure and defence priorities with the need to protect one of the country’s most ecologically sensitive regions.
