Great Nicobar Islands Project set to bolster India's strategic maritime footprint

The project will leverage the proximity to the international maritime routes and Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) and also reduce dependence on foreign transhipment ports on one hand and facilitate a stronger presence of India's defence forces on the other, the sources have said.

The Government of India envisaged the holistic development of the Great Nicobar Islands (GNI) with four interlinked projects, namely- International Container Transhipment Port (ICTP); Joint user Greenfield airfield and Naval Air Station; Township and a power plant, they said.

The project serves strategic significance due to its location being only 40 kilometres from the Six Degree Channel astride the sea trade route, which extends from the Gulf of Aden to the Malacca Straits.

With two-thirds of the world's oil and half of world's container traffic pass through this sensitive area; various regional and extra-regional powers having increased their military and economic presence in the Indian Ocean Region proliferation of smuggling of weapons, narco-terrorism and illegal immigration in recent years, the GNI project shall augment India's ability to operate in the South Eastern Indian Ocean Region thereby enhancing India's stature as a Preferred Security Partner and as first responder for benign roles such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and Search & Rescue (SAR).

Defence sources further observed that this will also help to address the constabulary role to ward off illicit maritime activities - a vision enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) doctrine.

India's Vital Areas and Vital Points on the coastline, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) require continuous maritime and aerial surveillance and prompt initiation of tactical action. Defence sources underlined that the GNI project gives India the ability to sustain its presence, move its assets, support operations, monitor and maintain forward logistics close to its theatre of interest.

The International Container Transshipment Port (ICTP), positioned just 40 nautical miles from the Malacca Straits, one of the world's busiest maritime shipping chokepoints, will promote India's cargo transshipment aspirations.

In consideration of the strategic and economic benefits, the Cabinet had last November, approved establishment of the Greenfield airport under the operational control of Indian Navy. The airport will enhance India's maritime domain awareness (MDA) and operational outreach in a way that standalone expansion of an existing defence facility cannot fully achieve.

Defence sources added that the overall development entails establishment of sea side and interior tropical forest facilities to attract tourists from around the world and cater to them in an environmentally sensitive manner.

The construction of an airport will increase the tourist footfalls and put GNI onto the global tourist map. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has envisaged the airport, with an initial capacity of 1.35 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) by 2040.

In order to set up the greenfield airport, five alternative sites including INS Baaz in Campbell Bay were evaluated on parameters such as topography, obstructions to air navigation, impact on tribal populations, flora and fauna before zeroing it on Galathea Bay.

The possibility of INS Baaz being developed as a brownfield project met with limitations, which forced the idea to be dropped. These included factors such as the site being dominated by hill feature on the north which is over 80m high, which would have required significant hill cutting and dredging of shallow coastline for ensuring safe aviation for wide-bodied aircraft.

The existing Indian Navy infrastructure extends to the fringes of the existing short runway and safety clearances are not adequate for a Code 4 runway and so these existing facilities would need to have been demolished. Hence the site has limited scope for future expansion and would not be able to accommodate infrastructure required for an International Airport. Further, expansion of the runway would require extensive land reclamation and potentially pass through existing habitations, thereby splitting the settlements into two parts. The disturbance to the avifauna would have been significantly higher when compared to the greenfield site. Moreover, INS Baaz is about 30 km further away from the proposed greenfield site, according to defence sources.

The defence sources further noted that the environmental assessment has been carried out strictly in accordance with the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2006 and the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) Notification 2019, wherein the ecological characteristics, biodiversity value and sensitivity of the island have been explicitly examined. Such assessment involved reputed national institutions including Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON).

The EIA recorded that only 166.1 sq. km. has been designated for development of GNI project, while 81.74% of the island area will continue under National Parks, Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, forests and tribal conservation areas.

The project involves forest diversion of about 130.75 sq. km., out of which more than half will be retained as green area, where no tree felling is envisaged. Forest land will be diverted for non-forest purposes only as "Right of Use" and the ownership of the balance non-forest land will remain with the government in terms of the provisions of the Forest Conservation Rules 2023.

It was noted that a dedicated conservation programme of 2,220.41 crores over 30 years has been provisioned to ensure sustained protection of wildlife, flora and ecosystems including Leatherback Turtles, Nicobar Megapodes & Crocodiles and facilitate coral conservation & mangrove restoration.

The project was green lighted with comprehensive mitigation measures incorporated and this has withstood scrutiny of the National Green Tribunal. The NGT, observing that adequate safeguards have been provided, did not find any grounds to interfere in the environmental clearances granted to the project while disposing of the batch of applications.

Furthermore, the project land acquisition is being processed under the applicable legal framework. including the RFCTLARR Act 2013, with Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and public hearings for private land acquisition.

Defence sources said that the EIA recorded that the denotified area of the Tribal Reserve of 73.07 sq km is more than offset by 76.98 sq. km of fresh notification, resulting in a net addition of 3.91 sq. km to the Tribal Reserve.

The consent process under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 was carried out in coordination with the Department of Tribal Welfare, A&N Administration. Further, the consultation process has involved the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) Nicobari Tribal Council and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and it has been clearly stated that no physical displacement of tribal population is proposed.

Apart from the strategic benefits, the commencement of the Great Nicobar Islands Project is also set to increase the employment opportunities in the islands.

According to the Defence sources, ir is estimated that more than one lakh employment opportunities shall be generated in the region. The multiplier effects in service and support industries will further generate indirect employment.

The ambitious project thus ensures that India's national security concerns are alleviated whilst ensuring that ecological concerns are mitigated. (ANI)