The Great Nicobar standoff: Jairam Ramesh turns up the heat on the Environment Ministry

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has accused the government of systemic opacity, alleging that environmental safeguards for the ambitious Great Nicobar project are being bypassed.

The ongoing standoff over the Great Nicobar Island project shows no signs of cooling. In his latest missive to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on June 19, 2026, Jairam Ramesh, a former environment minister himself, didn’t mince words. He called the current environmental impact assessments "demonstrably inadequate," marking the latest escalation in a paper war that has spanned several years. For Ramesh, the core of the grievance isn't just ecological; it is a fundamental lack of transparency in how the government manages one of its most controversial infrastructure ventures.

A trail of missing reports

Ramesh’s critique centers on the government’s failure to keep its own promises regarding public oversight. The environmental clearance granted to the project on November 11, 2022, was predicated on a series of rigorous compliance mechanisms. Yet, the Congress leader points out a glaring gap: the mandatory six-monthly compliance reports have vanished from public view since March 2024.

Even the minutes of project monitoring committee meetings are surfacing months after they occur, effectively rendering public scrutiny a post-mortem exercise. "These plans are not publicly available," Ramesh noted, referring to vital conservation and mitigation strategies that were supposed to be filed within 15 days of the initial clearance.

The institutional silence

The frustration in the exchange stems from the alleged sidelining of India's premier scientific bodies. Ramesh highlights that institutions including the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) were tasked with drafting mitigation plans. These agencies were reportedly asked to submit revised proposals after the Environmental Appraisal Committee raised concerns, yet those revised documents remain hidden behind a veil of bureaucratic silence. Ramesh claims that when he has pressed the Minister for these details in previous letters, he has been met with responses he deems "unsatisfactory" and lacking in substance.

Why it matters

This tussle goes beyond a mere disagreement over paperwork. The Great Nicobar project sits at the sensitive intersection of national security, economic development, and fragile biodiversity. When the state fails to provide timely access to environmental and social impact data, it invites legitimate questions about the robustness of the project's ecological safeguards. The pattern of delayed reports and missing mitigation strategies suggests a systemic issue in how large-scale projects are monitored. For the Ministry, the challenge is to prove that "development" isn't being prioritized at the expense of statutory accountability, particularly when tribal and ecological concerns are at stake. As it stands, the lack of transparency is fueling a narrative that the project was cleared prematurely, leaving the government on the defensive.