Sri Vijaya Puram: For the first time in two decades, the Andaman and Nicobar administration’s Tribal Welfare Department has formally acknowledged the Nicobarese community’s long-standing demand to return to their ancestral lands on Great Nicobar Island. The recognition appears in the minutes of a Tribal Welfare Committee meeting held last month, as part of the environmental clearance process for the island’s multi-component mega-project.

According to a report published by Frontline, three committees are currently reviewing the project: one focused on pollution, another on biodiversity, and a third on issues affecting the Shompen and Nicobarese communities. According to the minutes, the tribal welfare department has agreed to consider “specific demands, including the request for return t

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