The mega infrastructure project, titled ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar’, is piloted by Niti Aayog and implemented by the Port Blair-based Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO).
It involves the construction of a transshipment port, an international airport, a township and a power plant.
There are raised concerns about the project’s clearances violating constitutional mandates and ignoring the views of the tribals.
More than half of the area of the Project lies over the Tribal Reserve Area.
Six indigenous tribes inhabit the islands, including the Shompen and Nicobarese in the Great Nicobar Island
The Shompen are a hunter-gatherer community with a population of around 200-300 individuals.
The Nicobarese are a larger tribal group with a population of around 27,000, spread across the Nicobar Islands.
The Great Nicobar Island has a tribal reserve measuring 751.01 square kilometres.