Experts say the multi-billion project would be a 'death sentence' for the Shompen people.
“The forest is our supermarket,” says Anice Justin. “We get almost everything from the forests on these islands. It is what we survive on.”
Built on a budget of 720bn rupees and spread over 166 sq km, the project includes a transshipment harbour, a power plant, an airport and a new township, all designed to link the area to crucial global trade routes along the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal. But the scheme has sparked alarm among the islanders who fear the loss of their land, culture, and way of life, with the project threatening to push them to the brink of extinction.The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are home to some of the most isolated and vulnerable tribes in the world, with five groups classified as "particularly vulnerable."
“The loss will be especially huge and traumatic for them,” says Mr Justin, who has been documenting the island since 1985. “The government always claims only a part of the forest will be cleared. But the infrastructure you're building would lead to more pollution, which in turn would impact the entire habitat," says Madhav Gadgil, an ecologist.But Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav in August had said that the project “will not disturb or displace” tribespeople and that it had received environmental clearances based on the “rigour of environmental scrutiny and after incorporating consequent safeguards”.
Ecologists warn of the effect on the Galathea Bay on the south-eastern side of the island, which has been the nesting place for giant leatherback sea turtles for centuries.
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