International Container Transshipment Port and the Destruction of Nature
Written by Paresh Malakar
In Indian tradition, nature has always been considered sacred. No distinction has been made between nature, humans, other living beings, and forests. This is one of our profoundly rich non-dualistic traditions. The phrase “Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma” means that humans, trees, plants, and all vegetation are manifestations of Brahma.
At first glance, this may appear to be blind superstition, yet its significance is deeply profound. It is a belief born from thousands of years of lived experience. Beliefs arise from the lived experiences of people, not the other way around.
What were the primary resources of early humans? What did their lives depend on? Water, soil, forests, and living beings. Could they have survived without these? Never. That is why they regarded nature as living and sacred — and this view was entirely correct. They did not differentiate between nature and humanity.
This tradition is clearly evident in the Vedas and Upanishads. The same reverence is seen in Buddhist and Jain traditions. The term “Abhayaranya” means a fear-free forest, where hunting and the cutting of trees are prohibited. The modern concept of wildlife sanctuaries has its roots in this very idea.
Someone may ask whether the West or Europe had similar ideas. They did, but much later than us. It began in the philosophical thought of Baruch Spinoza, a 17th-century Dutch philosopher. However, the idea of considering nature as inseparable from humans has long existed in African traditions. Its more recent expression appeared in the 20th century through the literary movement known as Négritude.
But all of this was overturned during the Renaissance in Europe and the Industrial Revolution. It started with René Descartes’ dualistic philosophy, which separated mind and body. This was followed by the scientific-technological revolution, which gave birth to colonialism. Colonialism essentially meant the exploitation of resources in foreign lands.
We have all seen the devastating form this resource exploitation took in Africa and Asia. The true picture of this can be found in the writings of Dadabhai Naoroji and Ramesh Chandra Dutt.
Why am I raising all these issues? The Bharatiya Janata Party frequently talks about Hindu religion and Hindu traditions. They perform Bhumi Puja before laying the foundation stone of any construction project. But do they truly show respect for the land and nature? No, they do not.
If they did, they would not have dug up and destroyed vast parts of the country. They would not have amended forest laws to accelerate deforestation or appointed weak and pliable people to the Green Tribunal. The BJP does not seek to end colonialism — in fact, it represents a neo-colonial force. It is spreading North Indian political expansionism to serve the economic interests of Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani and other multinational companies.
The latest example of this is the Galathea International Container Transshipment Port in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This project is estimated to cost between Rs 72,000 crore and Rs 92,000 crore.
Along with the port, plans include constructing a Greenfield International Airport, a township, a power plant (gas and solar-based, approximately 450 MVA), and other infrastructure such as roads. Nearly one million trees from the rainforests are expected to be cut for this project.
What will happen after cutting these one million trees? It will certainly affect climatic conditions, rainfall patterns, and biodiversity. The project will lead to the destruction of marine and coastal ecosystems. Coral reefs in the area will disappear. The breeding grounds of leatherback sea turtles will be disrupted.
Without trees and vegetation, coastal protection will weaken, making the region more vulnerable to disasters. It will severely damage the area’s rich biodiversity and increase the risk of earthquakes and other natural calamities.
This is why local residents have strongly opposed the project. However, the government has paid no attention to their protests and concerns. On October 27, 2025, nearly 70 distinguished scholars, scientists, ecologists, social scientists, researchers, retired bureaucrats, activists, lawyers, and intellectuals wrote an open letter to the government requesting it not to proceed with the project.
The government ignored their appeal. Even the National Green Tribunal ruled in favour of the project on February 16, 2026.
The central government has named this project the “Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island”. ‘Holistic’ means all-round development. Yet this project will not bring all-round progress to the people there — it will bring their collective destruction.
After implementation, it is doubtful whether the original inhabitants of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will even survive. There is no doubt that the ecosystem of the place will be completely destroyed. It will leave no trace of the old ecosystem, culture, or traditions.
Is this the BJP’s so-called “love for tradition”?