INDIA’S NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL (NGT) has approved the Great Nicobar Project, which is estimated to cost Rupees 80,000 crore. In its decision, the tribunal stated that it found no grounds to interfere in the project. This ambitious project includes an international container transshipment terminal, an international airport, a power plant and a township to be developed over an area of 166.10 square kilometers. Notably, 130.75 square kilometers of this area is forest land, and 84.10 square kilometers fall under tribal areas.
Getting legal approval for a project is a process, but it does not resolve the social, environmental, and human issues associated with it. The big question that arises with this vision of development is that should forests and tribal communities keep paying the cost of modern infrastructural development?
Forest areas that have maintained nature’s balance for centuries are now at risk due to large projects. The tribal communities who have lived in harmony with nature are seeing their lands included in development plans. This is not just a matter of land, but a question of existence, culture and identity.
Worldwide, there has been a trend of snatching land belonging to the indigenous peoples under the pretext of development and corporate expansion. This almost always happens under the garb of legal land acquisition, but the truth is that the tribal and indigenous communities living there get displaced. History bears witness to the fact that across the globe, from America to Asia and Africa, it always the communities who are already marginalized who lose in the maddening race for development. Behind the glitz of progress lies their suffering which is always silenced.
It would be wrong to say that development is unnecessary. The country needs ports, airports and modern facilities. The question, however, is: what should the model of development be? Shouldn’t environmental balance be considered in the process of development? Are the consent and participation of local and tribal communities ensured? Are there concrete arrangements to safeguard their rights and livelihoods? And most importantly, is the project truly necessary?
If forests are destroyed, it is not just trees that will be lost; along with it, climate, biodiversity and the balance for future generations will also be affected. If tribal communities are displaced, it is not just homes that will be uprooted, but an entire way of life and cultural heritage will be at risk.
There is now an imperative need to establish a balance between development and the environment. Ordinary citizens and tribal communities alike have the right to open spaces and to breathe freely. Development should be inclusive, just and in harmony with nature.
The country’s progress is important, but even more important is human existence and nature’s delicate balance. Development at the cost of tribal communities in the blind race for progress cannot be justified in any civilized society. The time has come to ensure that there is at least some open space left for people to breathe freely.
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