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Context

• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has granted an in-principle clearance for the diversion of 130.75 sq km of forest in Great Nicobar Island for the mega ₹72,000-crore project. The Project includes a transshipment port, an airport, a power plant and a greenfield township.

                              

Geography

Location

• Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra.

 

Rivers

• The island has several rivers, including the Alexandra, Amrit Kaur, Dogmar and Galathea.

 

Highest Point

• Mount Thuillier is the highest point on the island and in the Nicobar Islands.

 

Southernmost Point

• Indira Point (6°45’10″N and 93°49’36″E) is the southernmost point of the Great Nicobar Island and India itself. Indira Point subsided 4.25 m in the 2004 tsunami.

 

Ecology

• The island is part of the Nicobar Islands rain forests ecoregion. Plant communities include mangroves and coastal forests near the seashore, and evergreen and deciduous forests in the interior.

Flora and Fauna

• The majority of the island is designated as the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve— home to many unique and endemic species of plants and animals including the Nicobar scrubfowl (Megapodius nicobariensis, a megapode bird), the edible-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus), the Nicobar long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis umbrosa), saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), giant leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), Malayan box turtle, Nicobar tree shrew, reticulated python (Python reticulatus) and the giant robber crab (or coconut crab, Birgus latro).

 

Demography

• The island is home to the Shompen people.

Read: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/andaman-and-nicobar-islands

 

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/great-nicobar-project-gets-in-principle-clearance-for-diversion-of-130-sq-km-of-forest/article66111489.ece