Great Nicobar project proponent to set up panel for tribal welfare Govt

New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) The government on Thursday informed Parliament that the Rs 72,000-crore Great Nicobar project will not disturb the Shompen tribe and their habitations, and the project proponent is mandated to set up a monitoring committee to ensure the welfare of the Shompen and Nicobarese people.
     The government also said that geo-fencing will be done and surveillance towers will be installed for the protection and safety of the tribal settlements.
     The project being implemented by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO) includes a transshipment port, an airport, a power plant and a greenfield township.
     In response to a question by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale, Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said: "The project activities envisage no disturbance to Shompen tribe and their habitations and for the protection and safety of the tribal settlements, there is provision for geo-fencing cum surveillance towers."
     "In addition, the project proponent is mandated to constitute a monitoring committee for ensuring the welfare and other issues related to Shompen and Nicobarese," the minister said.
     In March last year, former Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Bishweshwar Tudu had told Parliament that a total of 7.114 sq km of tribal reserve area will be utilised for the project.
     The minister had said the utilisation of tribal reserve area will be subject to the interests of the local tribespeople living in the area, especially the Shompen tribe, which is classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
     The Centre had last week informed the Rajya Sabha that it accorded the in principle/stage-1 approval for the diversion of 130.75 sq km of forest land for sustainable development in Great Nicobar Island on October 27, 2022.
     "Compensatory afforestation is carried out in lieu of diverted forest land. Further, more than 50 per cent i.e. 65.99 sq km of the area proposed for diversion is reserved for green development where no tree felling is envisaged.
"It is expected that about 15 per cent of the development area would continue to remain as green and open spaces and therefore the number of trees likely to be affected is going to be less than 9.64 lakhs," Singh had said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)