Congress leader Jairam Ramesh Friday accused the Modi government of manipulating official maps of Great Nicobar Island to facilitate the controversial mega infrastructure project, raising serious environmental and procedural concerns.
Taking to social media platform X, Ramesh wrote, “Another day, another revelation of how the Modi Government has bulldozed the Great Nicobar Mega Infra Project through due process. Now we learn that official maps of the island have been airbrushed to remove corals from the map.”
Ramesh highlighted discrepancies between the 2020 and 2021 government maps. “In the 2020 map of Great Nicobar Island, the southern and western coast – including Galathea Bay, the site of the proposed international container transshipment terminal – was marked with extensive coral reefs,” he noted. “By 2021, the revised map shifted these reefs mid-sea, a biologically impossible location for coral reefs, conveniently clearing the way for the mega-project.”
Further explaining the environmental implications, he stated, “In 2020, nearly the entire island was classified as CRZ-IA, a zone where construction of ports is strictly prohibited. However, in 2021, Galathea Bay was mysteriously removed from this category, allowing development to proceed.”
The Congress leader condemned what he called a “bureaucratic rewrite” rather than an ecological update. “When reality obstructs corporate ambitions, the Modi government redraws it,” he said, accusing the administration of sidelining environmental safeguards to expedite the project.
This revelation adds to growing criticism of the Great Nicobar Mega Infrastructure Project, with environmentalists and local communities voicing concerns over ecological damage to one of India’s most sensitive island ecosystems.
As debates intensify, Ramesh’s allegations underscore the urgent need for transparency, environmental accountability, and adherence to due process in developmental projects affecting fragile habitats.