India, March 3 -- On February 16, 2026, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) upheld the environmental clearances granted to the Great Nicobar Project. The ruling clears the way for a trans-shipment port, airport expansion, township development and allied infrastructure. But it leaves unresolved a deeper constitutional question: can the large-scale transformation of a fragile island proceed without first establishing its ecological and anthropological limits?

Great Nicobar is not vacant territory awaiting strategic fulfilment. It is one of India's most biologically distinctive and culturally sensitive regions. It hosts the globally vulnerable leatherback sea turtle, the endemic Nicobar megapode, saltwater crocodiles, robber crabs and the Nic...