Bhupender Yadav denies Jairam Ramesh's claim, says Great Nicobar project clearance based on robust assessment

New Delhi: The Union Environment Ministry has admitted that primary field data for the Great Nicobar Island project was “collected over a single season,” but asserted that the green approval was accorded after the single-season data was “integrated with long-term historical datasets.”

“Although primary field data for the project was collected over a single seasonal cycle, the analysis integrated freshly collected data with long-term historical datasets available with the institutions, thereby ensuring that the environmental assessment and environmental management plan were scientifically robust, comprehensive and based on site-specific ecological understanding,” Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav wrote in a letter to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

In his May 27 letter, Yadav also quoted two orders of the National Green Tribunal in 2023 and 2026, and noted that on both occasions, the tribunal declined to interfere with the clearances, while directing strict compliance with the specific conditions in the environmental clearance.

In a contentious scheme, the Narendra Modi government plans to set up a mega transshipment port at GNI along with an airport, power plant, townships, road network and other amenities.

But the Rs 92,000 crore proposal has triggered huge controversy with environmentalists and opposition parties claiming the project will destroy the pristine island’s ecology beyond repair.

Flagging multiple violations of norms for the GNI project, Ramesh wrote to Yadav on May 10 and maintained that, because of the unique biodiversity and ecology of the Great Nicobar Island, “a robust and complete baseline study needs to cover at least three seasons.”

In his response, Yadav defended the project citing multi-tiered appraisals, NGT validation, and long-term scientific studies.

The minister said while certain field components involved rapid assessments and seasonal surveys, the environmental appraisal was not based solely on such short-duration studies.

The appraisal, he said, was based on an integrated analysis of long-term institutional datasets, marine investigations, shoreline assessment and continuous monitoring mechanisms.

“The shoreline change assessment carried out by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management using six time-series satellite datasets over a 17-year period concluded that the eastern flank of Galathea Bay, where the proposed port is located, is predominantly stable to moderately accreting due to offshore sheet rock formations and favourable sediment deposition patterns,” Yadav wrote.

“Accordingly, the requirement of comprehensive three-season studies is not attracted.”

The minister quoted the NGT to point out that the one-season baseline monitoring undertaken for the project was consistent with the EIA Guidance Manual for Ports and Central Pollution Control Board norms.