Jairam Ramesh writes to Bhupender Yadav over lack of transparency on Nicobar project

COngress leader and MP Jairam Ramesh on fri wrote to unification surround government minister Bhupender Yadav o'er the Great Nicobar Island project alleging the continued lack of transparency from the Central government and demanded a public disclosure of key environmental documents.The development comes amid Ramesh’s series of letter exchanges between him and Yadav on the project over the last couple of years.In his latest letter, dated June 19, Ramesh, who is also Congress’ General Secretary in-charge Communications, said conservation and mitigation plans, the updated Environmental Management Plan, several supporting studies and the National Green Tribunal (NGT)-appointed High-Powered Committee reports continue to remain unavailable on the project. This included the mandatory six-month compliance reports, which have not been shared since March 2024.Ramesh argued the project’s environmental assessments are inadequate and said the government’s invocation of “strategic objectives” cannot justify withholding critical documents.“I am sorry to say yet again that the environmental impact assessments of different aspects of the Great Nicobar Island Project are demonstrably inadequate and fall woefully short of guidelines set by the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change itself. Six-monthly compliance reports are to be made public. But after March 2024, no such compliance report has been made available. Minutes of the project monitoring committee meetings are being uploaded several months after they have been held,” said the latest letter exchanged between the two.Ramesh further said the environmental clearance calls for conservation and mitigation plans to be submitted within 15 days after the clearance was granted on November 11, 2022. However, there was no transparency on them either.Also Read:Huge potential for oil, gas exploration in Andaman & Nicobar offshore areas: Govt“These plans also are not publicly available. These include the plans to be prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology. (SACON), the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) and the Andaman and Nicobar Forest Department (ANFD),” the letter said, adding some institutions were also supposed to submit revised proposals for monitoring and mitigation plans – after incorporating suggestions made by the Environmental Appraisal Committee. Ramesh said not only were these not in the public domain, but neither was the updated Environment Management Plan – based on existing and additional studies.“There are at least, as far as I have been able to make out, twelve such studies by different institutions,” the letter adds, stating, further, a number of studies were still pending, proving that the environmental clearance was granted prematurely and hastily.“Some of the mitigation plans, like the large-scale relocation of coral colonies are clearly unrealistic and almost impossible. You may recall that I have earlier requested that the report of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) set up by the National Green Tribunal be made public along with the field survey of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management on which the HPC’s dubious conclusion regarding the Coastal Regulation Zone status of the proposed transshipment port was based,” the letter adds, arguing making everything public – in no way comes in the way of fulfilling “so-called strategic objectives” which has now become the rationale for the Great Nicobar Island Project, he said.Also Read: Making Delhi dust-free is our environmental duty“Serious questions on its environmental impact assessment and legitimate concerns on its grave ecological consequences remain unanswered and unaddressed by your sadly evasive replies. I am simply unable to understand the extraordinary level of non-transparency that is being adopted to hide reports, studies and plans,” he added.There have been a series of back-and-forths between the two, for over a year now, with Ramesh repeatedly challenging the rationale and clearances behind the mega project.Yadav had responded to Ramesh’s previous June 3 letter on June 13, assuring the project had all clearances necessary. It had said the expert appraisal committee (EAC) has already addressed all environmental concerns, with the issue also duly cleared by the NGT.“I would like to mention that your concerns have already been addressed in my earlier communications…I would also like to mention that the NGT in its orders dated April 3, 2023 and February 16, 2026, has duly considered, among other issues, those raised in your letter such as the applicability of the office of memorandum dated November 3, 2009 and the EIA guidance manual for ports, the erosion status under the Island Coastal Regulation Zone (ICRZ) framework and the confidentiality of the High Powered Committee report..” Yadav had said in his letter to Ramesh on June 13.“Further, the issues related to environmental appraisal, the adequacy of studies, ecological safeguards or coastal regulation compliance have already been duly examined by the concerned EAC with rigour..” it had added.Till the time of filing of the copy, there was no immediate response available from Yadav, or the Union environment ministry.