Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav recently stated that the Great Nicobar Project will not displace the Shompen, an indigenous tribe of the Nicobar Islands and, instead, it would counter expansionist action by China in the region, curb the stealing of marine resources by Myanmarese poachers, bridge infrastructural gaps, and promote global trade.
- The Great Nicobar Project involves construction of a transshipment port, an international airport, a power plant, a township and allied infrastructure in the Greater Nicobar island.
- It was given nod by the Environment Ministry two years ago.
- The Union Minister explained that despite the project’s impact, 82% of the Great Nicobar area remains protected as forests, eco-sensitive zones, and biosphere reserves, exceeding the required two-thirds forest cover.
About Great Nicobar
- Great Nicobar is the southernmost island of the Nicobar Islands Archipelago. It is a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB)-Biosphere Reserve.
- Mt. Thullier ( 642 m) is the highest point in this reserve. It is a habitat of the well-known Crab-eating Macaque, Nicobar Tree Shrew, Dugong, Nicobar Megapode, Serpent Eagle, salt water crocodile, marine turtles and Reticulated Python are endemic and/or endangered.
- The Mongoloid Shompen Tribe, about 200 in number, live in the forests of the biosphere reserve particularly along the rivers and streams.
- The southernmost tip of India, ‘Indira Point’ is in Great Nicobar Island. Megapode, a rare bird, is found in Great Nicobar.
- Campbell bay is the head quarter of Great Nicobar Island.
- Shompen is one of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in the country and who reside in the dense tropical rain forests of the Great Nicobar island.
