New Delhi, Jun 12 (PTI) Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday wrote to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over the Great Nicobar Island Project and urged him to reconsider the rejection of the full expansion of the INS Baaz runway.
In his latest letter to Singh, the former environment minister said he had written to the Defence Minister on May 16, 2026 on the Great Nicobar Island Project suggesting that in order to minimise its adverse ecological impacts and also meet strategic objectives, the expansion of the existing runway at INS Baaz on Campbell Bay could be considered as an alternative to building a greenfield airport at Gandhi Nagar-Shastri Nagar area of Great Nicobar Island.
“Subsequently, on June 8, 2026 there were reports in the media attributed to ‘defence ministry sources’ saying that the runway expansion at INS Baaz would be limited because lengthening to beyond 4500 feet will have adverse ecological impacts,” Ramesh pointed out.
“I appreciate the sudden worry for ecological protection but please permit me to submit the following facts for your consideration: The proposed site at Gandhi Nagar-Shastri Nagar needs cutting of two forest-covered hills of 115 metres. The proposed site comprises around 225 acres of protected forest and 130 acres of deemed forest–which are part of the territory of the Shompen tribal community and are currently being used by them,” Ramesh said in his letter.
He further pointed out that the proposed site sits directly on about 142 acres of Island Coastal Zone Regulation (ICRZ)-1A which enjoy the highest protection under the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2019 and that include turtle nesting beaches, corals and nesting grounds of the endangered Nicobar Megapode.
“The proposed site involves reclamation of a creek and relocation of saltwater crocodiles. The proposed site sits directly on two villages where 234 ex-servicemen settler families reside and they will have to undergo relocation for the third time in recent years,” Ramesh said.
He also argued that the proposed site is in a largely undisturbed, pristine forest bordered by a coastline with ecologically sensitive areas “The proposed site has not been subject to any serious and systematic environmental impact assessment especially since Great Nicobar has been designated as an Important Bird Area, an Endemic Bird Area and also holds the significance of being situated on two international bird flyways–the Central Asian and the East Asian- Australasian bird Flyways–that are accessed every year by several migratory species of birds that flock Great Nicobar seasonally,” he pointed out.
Noting that the proposed airport site at Galathea Bay was first declared as a dual- purpose airport by the Union Home Ministry on March 30, 2022, Ramesh said it has taken the Defence Ministry over six years to make some statement on it, albeit verbally and anonymously.
“It has been compelled to do so because the disastrous ecological impacts of the Great Nicobar Island Project which includes the proposed airport, in addition to the transshipment port, township and other facilities, have become all-too-evident and are inviting wide-spread concern,” the Congress general secretary in-charge communications said.
“In sum, I request you to reconsider your rejection of the full expansion of the INS Baaz runway that has been recommended by some distinguished naval personnel themselves,” Ramesh said.
The Congress leader copied the letter to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, to whom, Ramesh said, he has written over the past two years on at least four different occasions highlighting the demonstrably “dubious nature” of the environmental impact assessment of the Great Nicobar Island Project in its totality.
Ramesh’s letter to Singh comes days after Defence Ministry sources said India is undertaking the Great Nicobar Island project to advance its strategic maritime and economic interests. They dismissed its critics as suffering from “geographical illiteracy”.
The sources had said the runway at the INS Baaz, the Indian naval air station, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, will not be part of the GNI project.
The runway of INS Baaz was recently expanded to 4,500 ft and its further expansion requires significant land reclamation and it will impact tribal area, flora and fauna, they had said.
The GNI development project is a strategically significant national initiative designed to safeguard India’s maritime interest, the sources had said.
The government is planning to build an international container transshipment port (ICTP), a civilian-cum-naval airport, a township and a power plant under the Great Nicobar Island (GNI) project.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the government’s argument that the Great Nicobar Island project is about defence and a transshipment port is a “lie”, and alleged that it is actually about benefiting one businessman so that he can build hotels and casinos on India’s most irreplaceable ecological land.
Gandhi had also released an over 16-minute video earlier this month based on his visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in late April and urged people to sign a petition to tell the government – “we choose green over greed”. PTI ASK DV DV
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