" Indigenous Nicobar Islanders face destruction as mega development advances", 28 September 2024

The Indian government’s ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island’ project proposes building large-scale infrastructure and expanding tourism in an ecologically sensitive region. The project threatens the Indigenous Shompen and Nicobarese communities, who have lived on the island for millenia.

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While the project promises strategic and economic benefits for India, ... the infringement on the rights of Indigenous people.

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the Shompens have long been designated as a particularly vulnerable tribal group by the Indian government.

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The Tribal Council of Little and Great Nicobar Islands withdrew its no objection certificate for the development in November 2022, which had been issued in August 2022 to indicate the council’s approval for the diversion of reserve forest land. The Council told the Expert Appraisal Committee that they had not been informed that their tribal areas — including specific pre-tsunami villages — would be de-notified or that a port and township accommodation for non-islanders would be built on areas where their traditional settlements used to be.

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Twelve to 20 hectares of valuable mangrove forest will also be replaced by an international cargo terminal, an airport, gas and solar power plants and two coastal cities — an eco-tourism hub and a residential township. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation and the NITI Aayog have estimated that about 350,000 people will inhabit the island by 2050. This is an increase of 4000 per cent from the present population of Great Nicobar Island.