Overview
- Jairam Ramesh wrote to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday, June 12, urging reconsideration of the government's rejection of a full INS Baaz runway expansion and proposing it as a lower‑impact alternative.
- Defence Ministry sources said on June 8 that the government plans to spend about ₹13,000 crore to build a new dual‑use airport at Galathea Bay within five years and that INS Baaz cannot be lengthened to 10,000 feet without major land reclamation and ecological impacts.
- Ramesh detailed specific harms he says the Galathea Bay site would cause, including cutting two 115‑metre forested hills, clearing roughly 225 acres of protected forest plus 130 acres used by the Shompen tribe, affecting about 142 acres of high‑protection coastal zone with turtle beaches and Nicobar megapode habitat, reclaiming a creek, and displacing 234 settler ex‑servicemen families.
- Government officials counter that five candidate sites were assessed before selecting Galathea Bay, that more than 81% of Great Nicobar will remain under forest or conservation, that a ₹2,220‑crore conservation fund is planned for 30 years, and that no tribal physical displacement is intended.
- The dispute has sharpened political and environmental scrutiny of the Great Nicobar project, with calls from opposition leaders for a transparent, systematic environmental impact assessment and possible policy change if INS Baaz expansion is shown to meet strategic needs with less damage.