ST Panel Denies Info on Great Nicobar Project

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has appointed a new ‘overarching committee’ to review its own recommendations regarding the environmental clearance given to the Andaman and Nicobar mega project.

- JITENDRA CHOUBEY @ New Delhi

According to experts, the committee may undermine the integrity of the one established under the directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

On Monday, the MoEFCC-appointed high-powered committee (HPC) submitted a report in a sealed cover to the NGT’s six-member bench, led by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava. The HPC was constituted in April 2023 following an NGT order to reassess the environmental clearance granted for the mega project. Reports indicated that the environmental clearance had been issued hastily, neglecting several crucial factors and violating regulations such as the Coastal Regulation Zone, the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, and the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.