🌴🚨 Great Nicobar Project: Trees Down, Tribals Pushed Out, Billions at Stake!
- MediaFx
- Sep 15
- 2 min read
TL;DR: The Great Nicobar mega project worth ₹72,000 crore promises ports, airports, and jobs, but at the cost of lakhs of trees, fragile ecosystems, and tribal rights. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are calling it a betrayal of India’s values, while the govt says it’s “development.” But whose development is it really?
🌊 The Dream Project or Nightmare?
The govt’s mega plan for Great Nicobar sounds fancy: a transshipment port, an international airport, power plant, and even a new township. All this is tagged at nearly ₹72,000 crore. Sounds like progress, right? But hold on. Critics say this project could wipe out the island’s green cover and shake the lives of people who’ve lived there for centuries.
🌳 Trees Falling Like Dominoes
The official number is 8.5 lakh trees being cut. But independent experts say it’s closer to 32 to 58 lakh trees. Imagine that! That’s like wiping out an entire forest that takes centuries to grow. These trees are home to rare animals like the Nicobar long-tailed macaque. Once gone, they aren’t coming back.
👣 Tribals Pushed to the Edge
The Nicobarese and the Shompen tribes have lived here for generations. Laws like the Forest Rights Act clearly say you can’t just take their land without their consent. But reports say their “no objection” was taken under pressure and later withdrawn. This isn’t just displacement — it’s erasing a culture.
⚖️ Legal Loopholes Everywhere
Environmental clearance? Forest clearance? Social Impact studies? All seem rushed or ignored. To cover up tree loss, the govt even planned “compensatory afforestation” in Haryana — thousands of kilometers away, and in a completely different climate. That’s like breaking a chair in your house and then replacing it with a bucket in your neighbour’s garden. Makes no sense!
🔥 Sonia & Rahul Gandhi Speak Out
Sonia Gandhi slammed the project, calling it a “betrayal of national values.” Rahul Gandhi shot a letter to the Tribal Affairs Minister, warning of clear violations of the Forest Rights Act. They both say it’s a disaster in the making, legally and morally.
🚢 Govt’s Side of the Story
The govt says this project will put India on the world shipping map, create jobs, and boost the economy. Development, connectivity, and opportunities — that’s the pitch. But the big question: whose development, and at what cost?
💥 The People’s Perspective
See, development should mean schools, hospitals, and jobs that help ordinary people — not mega projects that destroy forests and uproot tribals. Once you cut down lakhs of trees and destroy an island’s balance, you can’t buy it back with money. Nature and people’s lives are not for sale. If India wants to grow, it should grow with its people, not at the cost of them.
✅ Final Take
The Great Nicobar project looks shiny on paper, but beneath it lies a story of broken promises, cut trees, and silenced voices. Progress must be people-first and eco-friendly. Otherwise, it’s just another corporate land grab dressed up as “national pride.”
