In a hard line of attack, the Leader of Opposition has put his finger on what he sees as the truth: this isn’t about a transshipment port or national security, but about opening the door for a certain businessman to put in some hotels and casinos. He has put out a warning that the damage will be done for good if they don’t change course right now.
What set him off
It all comes from a 16-minute video he put out after a trip to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in late April. “I was at Indira Point, I walked under some very old trees, I even dived with the coral,” he says, to get a feel for what’s on the line.
He is of the view that the story on the ground is not what the government would have you believe. He says tribal land is being taken in flagrant violation of the Forest Rights Act and that even the settlers, a lot of them ex-soldiers the state has moved there, are not being given their due.
The ecology and the people in the way
Gandhi puts it this way: the price in terms of the environment is one India can’t make up for. He says the area in question is some four times the size of New Delhi and home to rainforest in its purest form, yet the official maps have been scrubbed of the coral reefs.
He doesn’t mince words when he gives you the numbers. 1.5 crore trees, he says, and at 3 lakh rupees a pop, you do the math. He has the government down for making light of how thick the forest is – it’s not 145 trees to a hectare, he says, but 145 in a few metres.
Put simply, here is what he says the plan is for:
– 1.5 crore trees to go
– Coral reefs off the map
– Displacement of soldiers and tribals
– Some new hotels and casinos on soft ground
You can’t put a value on what you can’t get back, he argues. He sees a pattern where the timber is cut and sold to put up real estate and the like.
Is it for defence or for development?
He is not buying the defence angle. If you want to be secure, then for once, expand INS Baaz, the Navy’s air station in the islands, which he says has been asking for it for five years. The opposition will stand behind that in full.
There is room to grow the base without going after the rainforest; it’s on the coast and has the space. So why is the current plan needed? He says the government is using the forces as a smokescreen for something commercial.
As for the transshipment port, he calls it a red herring since we are already putting one in Kerala. It makes no sense to have a project that is being put across as strategic also come with a hotel and rest house attached to it.
Where things stand
These islands could be the kind of place the world wants to see, if we did it right, he says. It is a matter of choosing between a quick fix and being a good steward of the country’s assets.
And he is not shy about who he thinks is in line for the spoils: Mr. Gautam Adani. He says the BJP is in his pocket, as well as the Prime Minister’s, and that the talk of security is nothing but a lie.
Jairam Ramesh of the Congress is in agreement, calling it an ecological shambles. He says the approvals were a farce and that the strategic reasons are being made up because there are other options available.
In his video you can see him with the locals and in the water. He says the young people in India know the score and won’t stand for a profit that means the land is just taken from those who are there.
For Gandhi, the path forward is plain to see. We can have our security without wrecking the forest, provided we let the law be the law.
Here is what he is asking for:
– Let INS Baaz be expanded, but leave the rainforest alone
– Have another look at the transshipment idea
– Live up to the Forest Rights Act
– Make the compensation for settlers what it should be
The political temperature is on the upswing. He is making it a question of what the nation stands for. The government has to decide if it is for real defence and the environment, or if it is just a side deal for some private interests on the best of India’s land.
