T. R. Shankar RamanApr 6, 2025
Powerful piece by Ramachandra Guha on the planned ecological and social disaster that is the #GreatNicobar infrastructure and transhipment terminal project.
#conservation #restoration #islands #Andamans #Nicobar #biodiversity #tribals #shipping #destructiveDevelopment
https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/destruction-foretold-the-planned-disaster-of-the-great-nicobar-island-prnt/cid/2092519
T. R. Shankar RamanFeb 13, 2025

In the superb new issue of #Frontline... a piece by Rohan Arthur and myself:

An obit for Patai Takaru
"Great Nicobar’s mitigation plans reduce #restoration to tree-planting and reef relocation—a deceptive fix for irreversible #ecological loss."
https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-island-andaman-ecological-development-coral-reefs-marine-ecosystems-climate-change/article69158539.ece
#GreatNicobar #islands #Andamans #Conservation #ClimateCrisis #India

Great Nicobar’s Flawed Restoration Plan: Why Tree-Planting and Reef Relocation Won’t Save Its Ecosystem

The Great Nicobar development project’s mitigation plan oversimplifies ecological restoration, reducing it to tree-planting and reef relocation. Here’s why that’s a dangerous illusion.

Frontline
T. R. Shankar RamanFeb 12, 2025
A scathing, devastating critique of the outrageous, thoughtlessly destructive, and ecologically damaging #GreatNicobar infrastructure project, by Pankaj Sekhsaria in #Frontline. Everyone concerned with #nature, #environment, and #biodiversity #conservation in #India should be deeply troubled by this disastrous project and how it's being pushed through.
https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-infrastructure-environmental-tragedy/article69158497.ece
#Andamans #Nicobars #islands #shipping #tourism #AndamanNicobar
Great Nicobar’s Mega Project: A Costly Gamble with Forests, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Rights

The Rs. 80,000 crore Great Nicobar project faces scrutiny over deforestation, biodiversity loss, legal challenges, and cost escalations. Experts question its environmental clearances and economic feasibility.

Frontline
T R Shankar Raman (has moved)Sep 20, 2024
An indignant and devastating critique of the #environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Great #Nicobar mega-infrastructure project. ...And that last line! Do read.
#conservation #islands #marineecosystems #rainforests #trees #indigenouspeople #Andamans
https://www.thequint.com/opinion/central-government-great-nicobar-island-port-project-flaws-red-flags-in-eia-report-ignored
Great Nicobar Port Project: The Red Flags in EIA Report That Have Gone Ignored

Great Nicobar Island Project: A closer look at the Environmental Impact Assessment report shows that flawed assessments ignore local tribes and threaten fragile ecosystems, prioritizing development over preservation.

The Quint
EdenDestroyerSep 10, 2023

Originally Posted by IndiaNewsWatch @ kolektiva dot social

India’s ‘Alternative To Hong Kong’ Proceeds In Lush Nicobar Island, As Govt Ignores Pleas Of Local Tribals

Over the past 17 years, and most recently in 2022, hunter-gatherers, fisherfolk & farmers of a Nicobarese tribe—inhabiting a rainforest-draped island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago for about 50,000 years—have pleaded with the union government to return them to their ancestral land. But with a Rs 72,000-crore plan to build a giant port, international airport, power plant and tourism facilities by cutting about a million trees in 130 sq km of rainforest, the government has erected a wall of silence to their requests to return home.

Link:

https://article-14.com/post/india-s-alternative-to-hong-kong-proceeds-in-lush-nicobar-island-as-govt-ignores-pleas-of-local-tribals-64fa9d1da1bed

Tags: #AndamanNicobarIslands #nicobarese #GreatNicobar #TribalRights #ForestRights #deforestation #andamans #RainForests #environment #EcoDestruction #CivilRights #displacement #UnionGovt #india

India’s ‘Alternative To Hong Kong’ Proceeds In Lush Nicobar Island, As Govt Ignores Pleas Of Local Tribals

Over the past 17 years, and most recently in 2022, hunter-gatherers, fisherfolk & farmers of a Nicobarese tribe—inhabiting a rainforest-draped island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago for about 50,000 years—have pleaded with the union government to return them to ancestral land they lived in before the 2004 tsunami. But with a Rs 72,000-crore plan to build a giant port, international airport, power plant and tourism facilities by cutting about a million trees in 130 sq km of rainforest, the government has erected a wall of silence to their requests to return home. The official reply to our right-to-information query: ‘No information’.

IndiaNewsWatchSep 10, 2023

India’s ‘Alternative To Hong Kong’ Proceeds In Lush Nicobar Island, As Govt Ignores Pleas Of Local Tribals

Over the past 17 years, and most recently in 2022, hunter-gatherers, fisherfolk & farmers of a Nicobarese tribe—inhabiting a rainforest-draped island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago for about 50,000 years—have pleaded with the union government to return them to their ancestral land. But with a Rs 72,000-crore plan to build a giant port, international airport, power plant and tourism facilities by cutting about a million trees in 130 sq km of rainforest, the government has erected a wall of silence to their requests to return home.

https://article-14.com/post/india-s-alternative-to-hong-kong-proceeds-in-lush-nicobar-island-as-govt-ignores-pleas-of-local-tribals-64fa9d1da1bed

#AndamanNicobarIslands #nicobarese #GreatNicobar #TribalRights #ForestRights #deforestation #andamans #RainForests #environment #EcoDestruction #CivilRights #displacement #UnionGovt #india

India’s ‘Alternative To Hong Kong’ Proceeds In Lush Nicobar Island, As Govt Ignores Pleas Of Local Tribals

Over the past 17 years, and most recently in 2022, hunter-gatherers, fisherfolk & farmers of a Nicobarese tribe—inhabiting a rainforest-draped island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago for about 50,000 years—have pleaded with the union government to return them to ancestral land they lived in before the 2004 tsunami. But with a Rs 72,000-crore plan to build a giant port, international airport, power plant and tourism facilities by cutting about a million trees in 130 sq km of rainforest, the government has erected a wall of silence to their requests to return home. The official reply to our right-to-information query: ‘No information’.

T R Shankar Raman (has moved)Dec 28, 2022
A vanishing and oft-ignored #ecosystem, vital for coastal safety and #biodiversity: littoral forest, here in Little Andaman island. Past a strip of sandy beach with coral rubble, a bright green skirt of Scaveola tuccada hems a frizzy waistline of Hibiscus tiliaceus, rising into trunk and canopy of a phalanx of sea mahua Manilkara littoralis, interspersed with Elaeocarpus rugosus #trees. #oceans #coasts #india #Andamans
T R Shankar Raman (has moved)Dec 23, 2022
These wonderful giant rain trees, festooned with ferns and orchids and epiphytes, may soon be hacked away to make more way for the road. A man complained and said that the #trees need to be cut because he's scared some branches may fall. So decades old trees will die for more tarmac and unfounded fears. I tried to tell him that these are beautiful and valuable trees. And a few falling branches are a small price to pay for such beauty.
#nature #conservation #Andamans #roads
The Pigeon ExpressAug 18, 2021
New plant species 'umbrellas of a mermaid' discovered in Andamans archipelago #India #Andamans #Plants #Botany https://www.thepigeonexpress.com/new-plant-species-umbrellas-of-a-mermaid-discovered-in-andamans-archipelago/
New plant species 'umbrellas of a mermaid' discovered in Andamans archipelago • The Pigeon Express

Indian scientists discovered a new plant species in India's Andamans archipelago, named Acetabularia jalakanyakae after the goddess of the ocean.

The Pigeon Express