India, Aug. 7 -- Over 130 hectares under a tribal reserve will be diverted for the Great Nicobar Trunk Infrastructure Road project, the government has told Rajya Sabha. Overall, 238.76 hectares are proposed to be diverted for the arterial road. It includes 39.23 hectares of government, 39.86 hectares of private, 10.62 hectares of deemed forest, and 149.05 hectares of protected forest land.

Minister of state for environment Kirti Vardhan Singh cited information from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration and said 12,428 trees are estimated to be felled in the first phase of the construction of the arterial road. He was responding to Aam Aadmi Party lawmaker Narrain Dass Gupta's questions on the forest, tribal reserve, and private ...