Gurugram (Haryana) [India], May 2 : Major General Arvind Bhatia (Retd) on Friday raised concerns over Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the Great Nicobar Project, while highlighting the strategic importance of the island and the project.
Speaking to ANI, Bhatia said, "Whenever a project of strategic or national importance comes up, the Leader of Opposition and opposition parties should support the government and not oppose it."
Bhatia said the strategic importance of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands must be clearly understood. He added that whenever a project of national or strategic importance is taken up, the Leader of the Opposition and other opposition parties should support the government instead of opposing it.
"The Ministry of Environment has said that only a very small portion of 1.82% of the forest of Great Nicobar Island will be used in this project. An international container transhipment terminal will be built in Galathea, which will give us a profit of 20 to 40 crore dollars every year... It has major advantages and strategic importance," he added.
He added that he welcomed the government's initiatives in this direction.
"All these projects are in the right direction because it is 1200 km away from the mainland and very close to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It has immense strategic importance, and military and infrastructure development here is crucial. I am pleased that this government is undertaking such work," he said.
Bhatia's statement comes ahead of Rahul Gandhi criticising the centre's development push in Great Nicobar, alleging large-scale environmental destruction and displacement of local communities. He termed the project one of the "biggest scams" against the country's natural and tribal heritage.
In a post on X, Raebareli MP said he recently travelled through Great Nicobar and expressed concern over the impact of the ongoing project on forests and indigenous communities.
"I travelled through Great Nicobar today. These are the most extraordinary forests I have ever seen in my life. Trees older than memory. Forests that took generations to grow. The people on this island are equally beautiful - both the adivasi communities and the settlers - but they are being robbed of what is rightfully theirs," he wrote.
He further alleged that the project would result in large-scale deforestation and ecological damage."The government calls what it is doing here a 'Project.' What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe. It is 160 square kilometres of rainforest condemned to die. It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away," he said.
The Great Nicobar Project seeks to transform Great Nicobar into a strategic maritime and economic hub by leveraging its proximity (about 40 nautical miles) to the East-West shipping route and reducing dependence on foreign transshipment ports keeping in view the defense and National Security purpose.
It includes major infrastructure components: a 14.2 million twenty foot equivalent unit( MTEU) International Container Transshipment Terminal, a Greenfield International Airport (4000 Peak Hour Passengers-PHP)., a 450 MVA gas-solar power plant, and a planned township
The Great Nicobar Project is fully aligned with the Shompen Policy of 2015 and the Jarawa Policy of 2004, which mandate that large-scale development proposals prioritize the welfare and integrity of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and follow a structured consultation process, government said in an official statement earlier this week.
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