The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration has developed a map for reclassifying tribal reserve land for the Great Nicobar Island mega-infrastructure project. They are also close to finalizing locations for project towers within these areas. Additionally, temporary housing for all project staff on Great Nicobar Island has been completed, and a “Comprehensive Tribal Welfare Plan” is expected to be finalized next month.
This update was presented to the Monitoring Committee of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO), which oversees tribal affairs for the massive ₹92,000-crore infrastructure project. This ambitious undertaking on Great Nicobar Island encompasses a transshipment port, an airport, a power plant, and a new township. The project’s development by ANIIDCO continues despite ongoing legal challenges in courts and tribunals regarding its forest and environmental clearances.
During an October meeting, the monitoring committee for tribal affairs learned from the islands’ Tribal Welfare Department that a Geographic Information System (GIS) map has been created to facilitate the denotification and renotification of land, with assistance from the Forest Department. Future sites for communication towers will be chosen after consulting with the Assistant Commissioner of Campbell Bay and the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti, the administrative body representing the indigenous Shompen community.
It’s important to note that any changes to tribal reserve land for the Great Nicobar Island project legally require existing forest rights to be settled first, as mandated by the Forest Rights Act of 2006. The completion of these denotification maps proceeds even as the Calcutta High Court is reviewing petitions that dispute the administration’s assertion that these forest rights have been properly addressed.
Minutes from the October monitoring committee meeting also indicate a decision to incorporate the Nicobarese Scheduled Tribe community’s demand to return to their ancestral lands into the Comprehensive Tribal Welfare Plan. These lands were originally abandoned after the devastating 2004 tsunami.
This request is central to the Little and Great Nicobar Tribal Council’s opposition to the Great Nicobar Island project. The Council asserts that their ancestral villages are located within the proposed project zone and that forest rights for these areas were never properly established or settled. The Nicobarese consistently express their desire to return to their villages, a concern that even Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi highlighted in a letter to the Tribal Affairs Minister in September.
The monitoring committee stated that the decision to include this “consideration” in the tribal plan directly stemmed from a representation submitted by the Tribal Council on August 27 of this year. Furthermore, the committee also agreed to include historical data on tribal populations and settlements from the pre-tsunami era in the tribal plan. The plan will also address the Nicobarese’s calls for “housing, farmland, employment, and compensation, alongside improved social infrastructure and connectivity.”
However, a review of the Tribal Council’s August 27 representation, which The Hindu examined, indicates no specific demands for housing, farmland, employment, or compensation. Instead, the letter requested road access to their ancestral village, requiring an extension of the existing road to Indira Point. The Council explicitly reiterated their stance: “we do not want any infrastructure to be located in the land demarcated as Tribal Reserve or any other areas that are/were in use by us and the Shompen community.”
The Tribal Council had previously clarified that their agreement to establish basic infrastructure, such as roads, should not be interpreted as an endorsement of a large-scale project that threatens to destroy forests and tribal territories.
Minutes from ANIIDCO’s October monitoring committee meeting also show that the government has granted in-principle approval for various research proposals concerning Great Nicobar, including a project titled “Shompen Katha” for the current fiscal year. The Tribal Welfare Department further reported that timelines for health, surveillance, and protection schemes are now in place, and all overlapping schemes have been identified.