As some parts of the ₹92,000 crore mega-infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island are “closer to approval”, tribal council members in Little and Great Nicobar on Thursday (January 22, 2026) alleged that they are under pressure from the district administration to “give up our ancestral land” to make way for the project.
Portions of the project in Galathea Bay, Pemmaya Bay and Nanjappa Bay require the diversion of forest land where the original Nicobarese lived before the 2004 tsunami.
Also Read: Great Nicobar Island project: Over 70 experts, scientists write to environment minister on ‘serious’ irreversible impact
In an online press briefing, the Tribal Council members said they were invited to a meeting with Nicobar District Administration officials on January 7, where they were verbally asked to sign a “surrender letter” giving up their ancestral tribal lands. A few hours after the briefing, they were called to another meeting where they were asked if they would give up their claims to some of their land if they were allowed to resettle villages destroyed by the tsunami on other parts of the coast.
Nicobar Deputy Commissioner Amit Kale Marutirao and Deputy Commissioner (Campbell Bay), Keshav Narendra Singh, did not respond to The Hindu’s requests for comment.
“Nothing for Future Generations”
“Several officials of the district were present in the meeting (January 7) along with a representative of the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti administration. We were shown various maps related to the project and were asked about our opinion on the development project. And then we were asked to sign the surrender letter,” tribal council chairman Barnabas Manju said, adding that the meeting was held at the Nico Andaman Public Workbell in Nico Andaman Campbell. lasted about 10 minutes. Tribal Council members told officials they would have to discuss it among themselves.
At a press conference, Titus Peter, 1st Captain of Pulobhabi village and a member of the Council, said: “We cannot sign a surrender document like this. It is our ancestral tribal land. We will have nothing for future generations.” Mr. Manju noted that 21 years have passed since they were displaced by the 2004 tsunami and they have yet to hear from the administration about their demands to return to the site of their ancestral villages that were destroyed by the tsunami.
Surrender template
Councilors said they had not been told any details of the “surrender letter”, although Mr Manju noted that “officials have said they will help us draft it if needed”. The Tribal Council is the apex representative body of the Nicobar community, which is recognized as a Scheduled Tribe.
Four days before the meeting with district officials, a Councilor received a WhatsApp message proposing a template “handover confirmation” addressed to the Chief Secretary of A&NI Administration and asking for a meeting to discuss the terms of such a handover.
“It is not clear what parts of our ancestral land the officials are referring to. Our understanding is that they want the surrender letter to include areas that were covered by what used to be our villages before we were displaced by the tsunami,” said Mr Peter, pointing to the west coast on a map of Great Nicobar Island. These villages include Chingenh in Galathea Bay along the southeast coast; At Haeng loi in Pemmaya Bay and Kokeon and Pulo Pakka in Nanjappa Bay, both along the west coast of the island.
Compromise offer
A few hours after the press conference, tribal council members were invited to another meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Campbell Bay. “We were told in the meeting that Old Chingenh in Galathea Bay would already be included in the project. We were asked if we would be willing to give up our claims on that part in Galathea Bay if the villages on the west coast were resettled. We were then told that another meeting would be held by the 28th of this month,” Mr. Manju told The Hindu on Thursday, January 26 evening.
Earlier this week, the Union Transport Ministry informed the A&NI administration about the planned “ground visits” for the international container transhipment port segment of the project, which is “nearing approval”. Last week, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, opposing a petition challenging the felling of forests under the project in the Calcutta High Court, said that the Union Territory administration is yet to submit the fulfillment of all the conditions laid down in Phase I approval, which include settlement of forest rights. This compliance would be necessary for the final approval of the project, the ministry said.
In August 2025, the Tribal Council complained to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram that the A&NI administration had made “false representations” to the Center that it had identified and settled the forest rights of local people under the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2022. In fact, the FRA processes “have not even been initiated,” the Council said.
“If the administration’s claim that our forest rights have been settled is true, then why are they asking us to sign documents like the handover certificate?” asked Mr Manju on Thursday (January 22, 2026).
Background checks challenged in court
The Great Nicobar Island project includes a transshipment terminal, an airport, a power plant and a town. The project, which is being developed by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation, will take about 13,000 hectares of Great Nicobar Island’s forest land, according to government responses in Parliament. While the environmental clearances granted to the project are being challenged in the Bench of National Green Tribunal, the forest challenge is being heard in the Calcutta High Court.
Last November, the NGT had reserved its order on petitions challenging the environmental clearance. The Calcutta High Court listed the matter for “final hearing” in the week of March 30 this year.
Last year, when the Tribal Council wrote to the Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi also wrote to the Tribal Affairs Minister asking the government to pay attention to the demands of the people to be relocated to their ancestral villages.
Published – 22 Jan 2026 21:27 IST
