Mon Nov 03 14:50:45 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:

Mega-Project on Great Nicobar Island Proceeds Despite Concerns Over Tribal Rights

New Delhi – November 3, 2025 – The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration is moving forward with its controversial ₹92,000-crore mega-infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island, despite ongoing legal challenges and persistent concerns regarding the impact on tribal communities. The project, overseen by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO), includes a transhipment port, airport, power plant, and township, all situated in an area designated as a tribal reserve.

The administration presented to the ANIIDCO Monitoring Committee that a Geographic Information System (GIS) map has been prepared for the de-notification and re-notification of tribal reserve land to make way for construction. Sites for infrastructure towers are expected to be finalized soon, following consultations with local officials and the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti, which represents the Shompen people.

This development is particularly sensitive, as any de-notification of tribal land requires settling forest rights under the Forest Rights Act of 2006. The Calcutta High Court is currently reviewing petitions that challenge the administration’s claim of having fulfilled this requirement.

Furthermore, a “Comprehensive Tribal Welfare Plan” is slated for finalization next month. The administration says the plan will include a “consideration” of the Nicobarese Scheduled Tribe community’s demand to return to their ancestral lands, from which they were displaced by the 2004 tsunami. However, the Little and Great Nicobar Tribal Council, a key voice for the Nicobarese, has expressed reservations about the project, stating their ancestral villages fall within the project area and their forest rights have not been adequately addressed. They maintain that they want to return to their original villages, and have rejected offers of alternative housing, farmland, and employment, seeking only connectivity to their land.

The ANIIDCO monitoring committee also announced in-principle approval for research proposals related to Great Nicobar, including a project called “Shompen Katha”. They have also prepared timelines for health, surveillance, and protection schemes.

The project, touted as strategically vital and crucial for boosting India’s maritime trade, continues to face scrutiny from environmentalists, scientists, and tribal rights advocates who warn of “grave” and “irreversible” consequences for the fragile ecosystem and indigenous communities of Great Nicobar Island.

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