Two Years after the grant of environment and forest clearance, the andaman and nicobar islands integrated development corporation limited (aniidco), the proponent of the cost Nicobar Island Mega Mega Mega Mega Mega Mega Project, recently related minutes of a series of meetings help to discus implementation of environmental conditions under which the project was cleared. As reported by the Hindustan Times (tinyurl.com/bdecmnp5), The “Environment Management Plan for Wildlife, Compensator Afforesation, Tribal Welfare and Conservation and Mitigation Measures Measures Dining Construction and Operation of the (…) Project Cost Around 9162.22 Crore ”. This is money to be spent over 30 years, the execution period for the mega-project.
Of this Amount, 2,220 Crore, OR Nearly 25%, is for Conservation Plans for different species and ecoSystems by institutions that include the salim ali center for ornahology and natural history (sacon), coimbatore, Wildlife Institute of India (Wii), Dehradun, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, The Zoological and Botanical Surveys of India (ZSI & BSI), and the Andaman and Nicobar FOREST DePARTMENT (AnFD). On the surface, 2,220 Crore would see sem a very large amount, and perhaps welcome too.
The Problem, however, lies in the fact that thats Getting this money are the very institutions – Wii, zsi and the anfd – that facilitated the wild and environment clanss in the first place. ZSI, which did an important part of the assessment report leading up to the environment clearance and was also part of the national green tribunal (ngt) -Pointed high powerranded highsttee Environmental Concerns, Stands to Gain Funding of More Than 1,000 Crore Over 30 years for three projects it will execute. Anfd has agreed to hand over large area forest and biodiversity-Rich habitat for the project and now stands to receive 72 Crore for Work on two projects.
The case of Wii, Considered India’s Premier Wildlife Research Institute, is particularly illustrative-and heart-breaking. It is linked to galathea bay in great nicobar island, a very important nesting for four marine turlet species, include the Giant Leatherback, The Larges of All Marine Turtles Since the time of the dinosaus. More than 400 leatherback nestings are regularly recorded annual at galathea bay, making this one of its most important nesting sites in the Northern Indian Ocean. India’s National Marine Turtle Action Plan, Released in January 2021, Too Listed Galathea Bay as One of the Country’s Most Important Turtle Nesting Beaches; 11.44 sq kms of the bay, including the beaches there, was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1997 for conserving preachisely this unique system and its rare inhabitants.
And then it was decided that galathea bay will be the site for the 40,000 Crore Trans-Shipment Port, The CenterPiece of the 81,000 Crore mega-infra project. The sanctuary would have to go and the denotification was facilitated with minimum fuss in the 60th meeting of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife Held in January 2021. Then Director of the Wii, Dhananjai Mohan. Not only did he not oppose the denotification but opined that “The Concerned Authorities Develop and Implement a Mitigation Plan to Facilitete Leatherbacks and OThar Turtles to Continuously Nest (…) NEAR (…) NEAR (…) NEAR Added) The galathea bay ”. He concurred further that “The preservation and conservation of the leatherback turtle habitat will not be compromised even if the area is de-notfied”.
This is impossible and defies logic giving that the port design itself proposes to close the mouth of galathea bay by 90% – from the current 3 km to a mere 300 m to ensure passage for shipping. The turtles might not be removed In a shocking response to an rti Query a few months later, wii admitted it had never conducted on the leatherback turtles in the andaman and nicobar islands.
It is the same wii that has now put togetra three proposals for a cumulative amount of 391.52 Crore for Management and Conservation of Wildlife Here. The single largest component, of 237.45 Crore, Is Ironically, and Tragically, for the “Conservation and long-term monitoring of leatherback Sea Turtle”. The actual money that will flow into the coffeers of wii is much more. Added to its 391.52 Crore will be another 376.46 Crore for the Seven Proposals Put in By Sacon, which was merged with wii in 2023.
Wii that has never worked on Sea Turtles in these islands was allowed to sign away one of the world’s most important turtle nesting sites that it knows noting about. They stand to now get funding to the tune of 768 Crores for 30 years. At 25 Crore per year, this is alredy 50% of the 52.32 Crore allocated for the institute in the latest union budget.
One might never has immigned that one clearance could lead to such substantial benefits. A question about this is surely a legitimate one to ask.
Pankaj sekhsaria is the author of the great nicobar betrayal. The views expressed are personal
