Overview
- Congress MP Jairam Ramesh wrote to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on June 19 asking for public release of six-monthly compliance reports, conservation and mitigation plans, and underlying studies that he says remain undisclosed.
- Yadav has replied that the Expert Appraisal Committee and the National Green Tribunal have already examined appraisal and coastal‑regulation issues, but the ministry has not published the contested reports for public scrutiny.
- Ramesh says six‑monthly compliance reports have not been made public since March 2024 and that conservation plans from institutions such as WII, SACON, ZSI, BSI, NIO, IIFM and the Andaman and Nicobar Forest Department are unavailable.
- He argues at least a dozen institutional studies are incomplete or pending and criticises specific safeguards, calling the proposed large‑scale relocation of coral colonies unrealistic and almost impossible.
- The dispute could widen legal and political challenges to the project because the work would clear about 13,000 hectares of forest, proponents cite strategic and economic aims, and opponents worry that lack of disclosure undermines oversight and may prompt further NGT or parliamentary review.