India, Feb. 17 -- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has declined to interfere any further in the environmental review of the Great Nicobar Holistic Development Project, in the process greenlighting the Rs.81,834.22 crore project. It has accepted the Centre's case that the project is strategically important and that Greater Nicobar, situated a thousand miles off the Indian mainland, offers a strategic location to develop a new economic hub. The project will help improve connectivity with the Indian mainland and other global cities, the government contends. These are contentious claims that deserved more attention from NGT.

The larger question is whether NGT delivered on its remit. The NGT Act 2010 states that it is a law for the effective...