Rahul Gandhi calls Great Nicobar Island project a ‘major threat’ to environment, tribal heritage
Sri Vijaypuram (Port Blair)/ Nicobar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre’s development initiative in Great Nicobar Island on Wednesday, On his maiden visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gandhi alleged that the project will lad to large-scale environmental degradation and displacement of local communities.
The Rae Bareli MP, in a post on X after visiting the island, said the project would lead to extensive deforestation and adversely impact indigenous populations.
“So I will say it plainly, and I will keep saying it: what is being done in Great Nicobar is one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime,” Gandhi added.
“The government calls what it is doing here a ‘Project’. What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe… It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away,” Gandhi said.
Describing the initiative as “destruction dressed in development’s language”, he termed it one of the “biggest scams” against the country’s natural and tribal heritage and called for it to be stopped.
Gandhi also claimed that nearly 160 square kilometres of rainforest could be affected, raising concerns over ecological damage.
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Afzalpur: KSRTC bus veers off road into field, no injuries reported
Afzalpur: A KSRTC bus veered off the road into a field near RMS School in Atanur village today. No injuries were reported.
The bus was travelling from Afzalpur to Kalaburagi when the incident occurred. The driver managed to bring the vehicle under control and safely stop it, preventing any damage or injuries.
According to Transport Unit Manager A.V. Bhovi, the road at the spot was narrow and there was a risk from an oncoming vehicle.
“The driver steered the bus to the side as a precaution. No damage was caused, and there is no need for the public to panic,” he said.
