Island On Edge.
An infrastructure mega project costing Rs 82,000 crore has been planned and given clearance to kick off on the Great Nicobar Island. The plan to build a transhipment terminal, airport, powerplant and an entirely new township comes at a great cost to an already fragile biodiversity, the culture of indigenous communities and even their languages. While authorities associated with it have tried their best to kick the project off the ground, they have failed to cover up the many legal and ethical blind spots that now threaten to put the project in murky waters.
Island on Edge follows up on The Great Nicobar Betrayal in an equally sharp and punchy fashion, covering new ground to investigate the pitfalls of the Great Nicobar mega project. This collection of articles presents research and data gathered about legal proceedings, diplomatic exchanges and on-ground realities on the Great Nicobar Island in a simple but in-depth manner. An urgent and astute study of this moment in Indian legal history, Island on Edge is a crucial addition to modern environmental thought.
Pankaj Sekhsaria is a long-term researcher of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He has worked on issues there for over three decades and has authored and edited seven books on the islands.