Rahul slams Great Nicobar project, calls it a crime against nature, tribes

CONGRESS leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday lashed out at the Great Nicobar project, describing it as “one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against the natural and tribal heritage of the country.”

- PREETHA NAIR @NewDelhi

Terming it “destruction dressed in development’s language,” Gandhi said the project at Campbell Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands would entail the axing of millions of trees on 160 sq km of rainforest and added that he would raise the issue in Parliament.

In a social media post, Gandhi said, “I travelled throughout Great Nicobar today. These are the most extraordinary forests I have ever seen in my life. Trees older than memory. Forests that took generations to grow. The people on this island are equally beautiful. But they are being robbed of what is rightfully theirs.”