'Recipe for ecological catastrophe': Jairam Ramesh commends scientists' group opposing Great Nicobar initiative
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Synopsis
Jairam Ramesh supports scientists opposing the Great Nicobar project, citing threats to the island's unique ecosystem, especially affecting the long-tailed macaque. He commends the Association of Indian Primatologists for their stand against potential ecological disruption and highlights the inadequacies of the project's conservation plans.
Key Takeaways
- Jairam Ramesh endorses scientists against the mega project.
- The Great Nicobar project threatens local flora and fauna.
- IAP highlights inadequacies in the Wildlife Conservation Plan.
- Deforestation endangers the Nicobar long-tailed macaque.
- Environmental clearance granted despite risks.
New Delhi, March 22 (NationPress) Congress leader and former Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh has voiced his endorsement for a group of scientists that has taken a stand against the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project, cautioning that it could irreversibly disrupt the island’s unique ecosystem and affect its flora and fauna, particularly the long-tailed macaque.
"The Association of Indian Primatologists is a collective of committed scholars, researchers, and conservationists. Their bravery in publicly opposing the Great Nicobar mega infra project deserves recognition," Ramesh commented in a post on X, sharing the association's official statement.
He pointed out that the IAP has indicated that the Wildlife Conservation Plan (WCP) and budget that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Limited (ANIIDCO) claims to have adopted from the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) is neither available to the public nor accessible under Sec. 8.1 (a) of the RTI by the MoEF&CC. Moreover, it has clarified that no WCP can effectively mitigate the extensive deforestation and land use changes anticipated by the project.
"The Nicobar long-tailed macaque remains significantly understudied, and it is implausible that SACON could have compiled the necessary data to produce a WCP that is sufficient," the group asserted.
The association cautioned that deforestation will alter local atmospheric temperature and humidity, which is intolerable for the Nicobar long-tailed macaque, and will exacerbate the ongoing reduction in precipitation caused by climate change, diminishing food resources and their diversity for the macaques.
"The extensive land use changes will push the species towards functional extinction and threaten floral and faunal species that are ecologically connected to it," the primatologists' organization stated.
The Association of Indian Primatologists noted that it raised objections during the public hearing in January 2022, providing a scientific forecast of the risks faced by the macaques.
"We are compelled by ethics and morality to declare that we can no longer remain passive observers and be complicit in the atrocities that will be inflicted upon the island and its species. We unequivocally oppose the Great Nicobar Project," it further declared.
Ramesh added that the threat to the long-tailed macaque is just one of the reasons why the Great Nicobar mega infra project is a recipe for ecological catastrophe.
According to reports, the geostrategic Rs 75,000 crore Great Nicobar mega infra project, designed by the NITI Aayog, is being executed by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDC).
With objectives in defence, logistics, commerce and industries, eco-tourism, and coastal tourism, the project includes the Galathea Bay International Container Transhipment Terminal with a capacity for 14.2 million TEUs of cargo, the greenfield Great Nicobar International Airport (GNIA) with a maximum capacity of 4,000 passengers per peak hour, the 450 MVA Great Nicobar Gas and Solar Power Plant, and two new coastal cities.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s Expert Appraisal Committee granted environmental clearance in November 2022 after evaluating the environmental risks and mitigation measures.
