Residents of the Great Nicobar Island affected by land acquisition for an international airport have demanded a fair compensation package after a social impact assessment report was submitted to the Union territory’s administration in July, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

The international airport is part of the Rs 72,000-crore Great Nicobar project, which also involves the construction of a Rs 35,000-crore trans-shipment port, a power plant, a township and tourism infrastructure spread over more than 160 square kilometres of land.

It was granted final environmental clearance on November 4, 2022. The project will take up 834.6 hectares of land. Of this, nearly 400 hectares is private land and the rest belongs to the government.

Experts and researchers have raised serious concerns about the impact of the project on the environment and the indigenous communities of the island.

A social impact assessment study on the Great Nicobar project was undertaken by the Delhi-based non-governmental organisation Probe Research and Social Development Private Limited, The Indian Express reported. The study reviewed the social effects of infrastructure projects and other development interventions.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 mandates a social impact study for projects that require land acquisition.

In June, the non-governmental organisation held a public hearing on a draft social impact assessment study with the stakeholders of the project, according to the newspaper. It then submitted a final report to the Andaman and Nicobar administration last month.

According to The Indian Express, residents of Gandhi Nagar and Shastri Nagar in the Campbell Bay taluk expressed concern over the loss of livelihoods that the displacement will cause in view of the construction of the airport.

Nearly 400 hectares of land from these two villages will be acquired for the project.

Accusing the report of not fully taking into account the impact of the project, the villagers demanded a revision of the circle rates for their lands, higher compensation for the loss of trees, and jobs for one family member each of the affected families and shops near the proposed airport, among other demands.

A circle rate is the minimum price at which a property can be sold to a buyer.

Also read:

In maps: The extent of destruction being unleashed on the forests of Great Nicobar Island

“We want land in lieu of land and Rs 50,000 for each coconut tree that will be lost,” the newspaper quoted Prahlad Singh, a resident of the Laxmi Nagar Gram panchayat from one of the affected villages, as saying.

As per the report, the proposed airport will affect 263 families. It also noted that nearly all of the coconut, betel nut, guava, banana and mango plantations will be acquired for the project, The Indian Express reported.

The social impact assessment study did not mention the impact of the project on the water resources of the region, ES Rajesh, the pramukh and samiti member of the Laxmi Nagar gram panchayat, told The Indian Express.

“There would be an influx of outsiders because of not only the airport construction work, but also the tourism that it will attract,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “There are issues of water shortages even now. But the report has not analysed these issues.”

The report also failed to mention the potential impacts of the proposed airport on the indigenous Great Nicobarese and Shompen communities living on the island, the newspaper reported.

Currently, a multi-disciplinary expert group is evaluating the final social impact assessment study. The group, which includes two independent social scientists, local panchayat members and government officials as prescribed by the Act, met on August 12.

Field visits to the island by the group are set to be conducted on August 26 and 27, The Indian Express reported.

Also read: