Editor's Pick: Over nine lakh trees likely to be axed for Great Nicobar Project

The Centre informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday that its ambitious ₹72,000-crore Great Nicobar Project may see 9.64 lakh, and not 8.5 lakh, trees felled to enable the construction of a trans-shipment port, an international airport, a township, and a 450- MVA gas- and solar-based power plant on the Great Nicobar island. Minister of State (Environment) Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that there is also a possibility that fewer trees may be axed, in a written reply in the Upper House. The Great Nicobar Project, which is likely to come up over 130 square km of pristine forest, has been accorded environmental clearance by an expert committee. However, this was challenged in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), following which it set up an expert committee in April to investigate aspects of the clearance. Though details of a project being appraised for environmental clearance are usually made available on a public portal maintained by the Environment Ministry, details on the Great Nicobar Project have not been put up, it is learnt, following instructions from the Union Home Ministry that has classified the project as one of “strategic importance”. These are evergreen tropical forests with high biological diversity and the island itself is home to nearly 650 species of flora and 330 species of fauna. “The estimated number of trees to be felled in forest area earmarked for development in Great Nicobar Project is 9.64 lakh. Further, it is expected that about 15% of development area will remain as green and open spaces. Thus, potential tree felling would be less than 9.64 lakh. Moreover, this tree felling will be done in a phased manner,” said Mr. Choubey adding, “In lieu of the trees being chopped, compensatory afforestation would be carried out in Haryana as the scope of plantation in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is very limited”. Recently, Parliament passed the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 which has been criticised for diluting forest protection. With the change of the name of the Act to Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act, stakeholders have pointed out that the Bill’s exemptions could be detrimental to significant forests in the Himalayan, trans-Himalayan and northeastern regions. The Hindu’s Editorials Making a riot: On the communal clashes in Haryana Strike three: On the indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz In which city are peace talks scheduled to take place on August 5 and 6 about the Russia-Ukraine war? Doha Warsaw Jeddah Buenos Aires To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 04 August 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Over nine lakh trees likely to be axed for Great Nicobar Project The Centre informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday that its ambitious ₹72,000-crore Great Nicobar Project may see [9.64 lakh, and not 8.5 lakh, trees]( felled to enable the construction of a trans-shipment port, an international airport, a township, and a 450- MVA gas- and solar-based power plant on the Great Nicobar island. Minister of State (Environment) Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that there is also a possibility that fewer trees may be axed, in a written reply in the Upper House. The Great Nicobar Project, which is likely to come up over 130 square km of pristine forest, has been accorded environmental clearance by an expert committee. However, this was challenged in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), following which it set up an expert committee in April to investigate aspects of the clearance. Though details of a project being appraised for environmental clearance are usually made available on a public portal maintained by the Environment Ministry, details on the Great Nicobar Project have not been put up, it is learnt, following instructions from the Union Home Ministry that has classified the project as one of “strategic importance”. These are evergreen tropical forests with high biological diversity and the island itself is home to nearly 650 species of flora and 330 species of fauna. “The estimated number of trees to be felled in forest area earmarked for development in Great Nicobar Project is 9.64 lakh. Further, it is expected that about 15% of development area will remain as green and open spaces. Thus, potential tree felling would be less than 9.64 lakh. Moreover, this tree felling will be done in a phased manner,” said Mr. Choubey adding, “In lieu of the trees being chopped, compensatory afforestation would be carried out in Haryana as the scope of plantation in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is very limited”. Recently, Parliament passed the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 which has been criticised for diluting forest protection. With the change of the name of the Act to Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act, stakeholders have pointed out that the Bill’s exemptions could be detrimental to significant forests in the Himalayan, trans-Himalayan and northeastern regions. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Making a riot: On the communal clashes in Haryana]( [Arrow][Strike three: On the indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz In which city are peace talks scheduled to take place on August 5 and 6 about the Russia-Ukraine war? - Doha - Warsaw - Jeddah - Buenos Aires To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. 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