Rahul Gandhi calls Great Nicobar project a major scam

Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Great Nicobar project is among the biggest threats to India’s natural and tribal heritage. During his visit to Campbell Bay, he criticised the project’s environmental impact and promised to raise concerns of tribal communities in Parliament

Sri Vijaya Puram: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the Great Nicobar project at Campbell Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was “one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against the natural and tribal heritage of the country”.

Stating that the project would entail the felling of millions of trees across 160 sq km of rainforest, and calling it “destruction dressed in development’s language”, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he would raise the issue in Parliament.

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In a social media post, Gandhi said, “I travelled throughout Great Nicobar today. These are the most extraordinary forests I have ever seen in my life. Trees older than memory. Forests that took generations to grow. The people on this island are equally beautiful — both the Adivasi communities and the settlers — but they are being robbed of what is rightfully theirs.”

“The government calls what it is doing here a ‘project’. What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe. It is 160 sq km of rainforest condemned to die. It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away. This is not development. This is destruction dressed in development’s language,” he said.

“So, I will say it plainly, and I will keep saying it: what is being done in Great Nicobar is one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime. It must be stopped. And it can be stopped if Indians choose to see what I have seen,” Gandhi added.

The Centre says the Rs 81,000 crore project, which includes a transhipment terminal, a power plant and a township, will boost maritime trade, connectivity and security, proving to be a force multiplier in promoting the geo-strategic and economic interests of the nation.

In a video message on social media, Gandhi said, “Every single person who lives on this island is against this project, but has not been asked about this project, does not know what compensation they are going to get for their land and now I understand why the government didn’t want me to come here and why the government did a whole exercise to stop me from getting here.”

Gandhi called it a “wholesale theft” and said residents of the island had asked him to raise the issue in Parliament.

“I will gladly do that… This needs to be told to the whole nation, especially young people because this is your future. This is possibly one of the biggest scams and largest thefts of Indian property, of ecological property, that has ever taken place,” he added.

On Tuesday, Gandhi went to Campbell Bay in Nicobar district to meet tribal leaders protesting against the project. A section of tribal communities has alleged a lack of transparency, environmental risks and continued neglect of tribal rights by the central government.

Gandhi, who arrived in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on April 26, also criticised corporate influence in the Union Territory and stressed that development should prioritise local needs rather than corporate interests.

During his visit, he interacted with members of the Nicobarese tribal community and also met members of the settler community. He also visited Indira Point and paid tributes to former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The tribal communities alleged that they are facing considerable hardship due to the proposed project and demanded that the central government take their concerns into account.