New Delhi, May 17 -- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday wrote to Defence minister Rajnath Singh on the Great Nicobar Island Project, saying the project in its present shape and form is a recipe for "ecological disaster".
Congress leaders have been flagging concerns over the project, claiming it would have a bearing on the ecology and tribal rights in the region.
In his letter to the minister, he said while there can be no two opinions on the need to strengthen India's defences, he suggested some measures to help strengthen its strategic capabilities around the Great Nicobar project.
He said such measures have been proposed by naval officers in their writings and can help improve the country's defence without much damage to the area's ecology.
Ramesh shared the letter on X, saying, "After writing to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests, & Climate Change and the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, I have written to the Raksha Mantri on the Great Nicobar Island Project."
Ramesh, who has earlier served as Environment minister, said on May 1, the Government of India had issued a press note titled 'The Great Nicobar Island Project: FAQs'.
On May 10, 2026, he said he had written to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on how these FAQs present a "completely false picture" on the project's environmental clearances which, in reality, have been given on very dubious grounds.
"On May 13, 2026, I wrote to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs on how the FAQs misrepresent totally the position regarding the fulfilment of the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 as part of the project's clearance process which flagrantly violate, in letter and spirit, the individual and collective rights given to tribal communities by Parliament.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.