3 min readNew DelhiMay 3, 2026 08:16 PM IST
The Congress party on Sunday claimed that the Modi government was “rattled” by Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Great Nicobar last week, and was in “damage control mode”. The party said this in rebuttal to a lengthy fact-sheet issued by the Union government on the Great Nicobar Island mega infrastructure project, after Rahul attacked the government over serious concerns regarding the project.
The detailed rebuttal, issued by Congress’ communications head Jairam Ramesh, centred on the island’s ecological concerns, tribal rights, and the project’s financial and physical feasibility and transparency. Ramesh said the government press note did not address any of the serious concerns raised on the project by local affected communities, environmentalists, anthropologists, academics, civil society experts and other professionals.
The former Union environment minister also said that India’s “legitimate security imperatives” should not be linked with “a so-called development project” and that security considerations needed, at the very least, a debate in Parliamentary forum.
The Centre had issued a lengthy press release on May 1, days after Rahul’s visit on April 28. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha had called the project “one of the biggest scams” and “gravest crimes” against natural and tribal heritage after meeting Nicobarese community leaders and settlers from the ex-servicemen community.
The Centre claimed in the press note that no tribal will be relocated while underlining the project’s strategic and defence purposes.
Raising ecological concerns, Ramesh also questioned the proposed transshipment port in Galathea Bay, a Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 1A area site where ports are not allowed. “Galathea Bay is home to more than 20,000 coral colonies…the beach here is the most important nesting site of the Giant Leatherback turtle in the Northern Indian Ocean…” he said.
Calling the proposal to compensate loss of Nicobar forests in Haryana a “travesty” of ecological principles, Ramesh underscored that a “tree cut in Nicobar can simply not be replaced by two, five or even 10 trees planted elsewhere”, especially in Haryana’s semi-arid ecosystem.
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He also slammed the Centre for citing different numbers of trees that are to be cut for the project.
“The number of trees to be cut according to the May 2022 minutes of the expert appraisal committee was 8.52 lakhs. In a statement in Parliament in August 2025, the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change claimed that the trees to be cut was 9.64 lakh. The latest press release puts that number at 7.11 lakh. Which one is to be believed?”, he asked.
The Nicobarese tribe, the senior leader added, has expressed concerns several times on the project’s impact on forest rights, and their way of life, and questioned whether the government obtained consent from the Shompen tribe, a largely uncontacted, particularly vulnerable tribal group.
Pointing to a recent government meeting of the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee on the port project, Ramesh claimed its financial feasibility was flagged by the government itself.
