Lakshadweep admin plans to acquire beachfront land amid green concerns

NEw new delhi: The Lakshadweep governance plans to gain 121,359 sqm (0.121359 sqkm or around 30 acres) of common soldier set ashore in Agatti Island for the development of beach front facilities and construction of a beach peripheral road on the eastern and western side of the island. Agatti is only 3.84 sq km in area, with a maximum length of 10 km.The preliminary notifications for this issued on May 25 have raised concerns among the land owners and the scheduled tribe population in Agatti. The concerns are mainly on the environmental and cultural impacts of such infrastructure in the tiny coral atoll.According to the notifications, seen by HT, a social impact assessment study was carried out by Social Impact Assessment & Consent Society (SIACS) in Kavaratti and a report submitted.As per the preliminary notifications, the administration plans to acquire 42,940 sqm for the beach front and peripheral road on the western side of the island and 78,419 sqm on the eastern side of the island.“We have not been consulted at all on these developments. We are worried that such developments will have a huge impact on people and the local environment. These coral atolls cannot withstand such pressure,” said Abdul Jaleel, a resident.“Recent developments, particularly for tourism and other infrastructure have caused much fear among local people regarding the future of their land and identity. Many are also feeling that they want locals to be banished from the islands,” said another long-time resident.“This is a preliminary notice. All concerned parties will be given statutory time to raise their objections and will be given time for hearing. Thereafter only final award will be released said,” Shivam Chandra, collector, Lakshadweep said in response to HT’s queries on whether consent had been taken from affected islanders.“The proposed road is for all public, not merely tourists,” he added.HT reported on February 5 that residents of Lakshadweep are protesting an attempt by the Union Territory’s administration to acquire 101,020 sq m of private land for tourism and other projects at Agatti Island on the grounds that this was being done without requiring the mandatory approval of gram sabhas and land owners as prescribed by law. The area of land sought to be acquired is a little over 3% of the total area of Agatti. While that notification said a Social Impact Assessment study will be carried out in sync with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, it mentioned that the consent of “gram sabhas and/or land owners is “not mandatory.”Lakshadweep consists of 36 islands of which only 10 are inhabited. The land area is only 32 sq km and lagoon area is 4,200 sq km, according to draft note of the ministry of home affairs available on the National Commission for Scheduled Tribe’s website. The majority of population in Lakshadweep belong to Scheduled Tribes.In 2024, HT along with the Pulitzer Center, published a series of stories on how Lakshadweep’s coral reefs were impacted by climate crisis, especially severe marine heat waves since October 2023. The series covered how impacts of climate change along with mega tourism and infrastructure plans are threatening the fragile balance in Lakshadweep and impacting the lives of local people. Lakshadweep experienced a severe coral bleaching event in 2024. The heat stress in Lakshadweep (Laccadive Sea) and in SE India was record-setting in 2024 according to Derek P Manzello, Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Center for Satellite Applications and Research Satellite Oceanography & Climatology Division.HT reported on July 24 last year that a 24-year long study of the corals in the Lakshadweep archipelago has found that corals declined to half of what they were in 1998 as a result of repeated marine heatwaves, exacerbated by climate change. The study published in the journal of Diversity and Distributions said this 50% decline in coral cover was explained by reduced recovery rates after each bleaching event, despite coral mortality decreasing with successive events.The paper concluded that the fate of corals in Lakshadweep will be determined by the return time of bleaching events, underscoring that urgent climate action is critical to secure the ecological integrity of tropical reefs.