New Delhi : Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday targeted New Delhi’s most ambitious Rs 81,000 crore strategic infrastructure project in Great Nicobar. Rahul took to X and said, “The government calls what it is doing here a ‘project.’ What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe. It is 160 square kilometres of rainforest condemned to die.
He added that forests nurtured over generations and the “beautiful” people living on the island “are being robbed of what is rightfully theirs. The government calls what it is doing here a ‘project.’ What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe. It is 160 square kilometres of rainforest condemned to die. It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away,” he added.
At the heart of the controversy is the clearance granted by the National Green Tribunal to the mega infrastructure project, which the Congress had earlier described as “half-baked” and “ill-conceived. The plan to build a transshipment and logistics hub at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago has previously drawn criticism from Sonia Gandhi, who urged the Centre to reconsider, citing the region’s rich biodiversity and indigenous communities.
Gandhi visited Campbell Bay in Nicobar district on Tuesday to meet tribal leaders opposing the project. A section of tribal communities has raised concerns over lack of transparency, environmental risks and alleged neglect of tribal rights by the central government. During his visit, Gandhi also criticised corporate influence in the Union territory and said development should prioritise local communities over corporate interests.
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