NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has declined to entertain a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking disclosure about the impact of the Great Nicobar Island mega infrastructure project on local tribes and the relocation of villages from a tiger reserve. The NCST cited parliamentary privileges and other legal exemptions as reasons for the refusal.The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has appointed a new ‘overarching committee’ to review its own recommendations regarding the environmental clearance given to the Andaman and Nicobar mega project. According to experts, the committee may undermine the integrity of the one established under the directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).On Monday, the MoEFCC-appointed high-powered committee (HPC) submitted a report in a sealed cover to the NGT’s six-member bench, led by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava. The HPC was constituted in April 2023 following an NGT order to reassess theenvironmental clearance granted for the mega project. Reports indicated that the environmental clearance had been issued hastily, neglecting crucial factors and violating regulations such as the Coastal Regulation Zone, the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, and the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.This mega project represents an `81,000 crore large-scale infrastructure initiative that entails the construction of a major transhipments port, an international airport, a township, and a power plant, which involve redirecting 130.75 sq km of forests and relocating villages. The project has faced backlash due to its potential environmental impact and concerns regarding the displacement of indigenous communities. Ashish Kothari, founder of Kalpavriksha, an environment action group, has challenged the environmental clearance in the NGT.
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