The controversial Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project, the 167 km long and 300 meter wide waterway to be constructed in the Palk Strait between India and Sri lanka has become a subject of international dispute.
For the first time since the SSCP was launched in 2005, the Sri lankan Government informed India about the possible ecological and environmental impact the Rs 20,000 crore channel would have on the ecology and bio-diversity of the island nation.
“The Government of Sri lanka has shared with the Government of India, a comprehensive report on the environmental impact of the proposed SSCP prepared by Sri lankan experts and high officials. Apart from the adverse environmental impact of the project, the Government of Sri lanka is also concerned about the damage it would cause to Ram Sethu which is sacred to many in South Asia,” said a Sri lankan senior official in charge of the issue.
A team of marine scientists, environmentalists, geologists and marine engineers, appointed by the President of Sri lanka has found that the SSCP is detrimental to the maritime and environment resources of the island nation. The high power team in its report to the Government expressed shock that though the 167 km long channel is within one km into the Indian side of the international maritime boundary, the Indian Government has not taken into account the environmental and maritime impact the project could have on Sri lanka.
The Indian Government, in its enthusiasm to please its one-time coalition ally the DMK, threw to winds the basic norms of international diplomacy by not informing its neighbour about the plan to construct the channel.
The scientific team also found that the initial dredging, infinite maintenance dredging and subsequent shipping through the channel would be disastrous to Sri lanka. Ariyaratne Hewage, secretary to the Sri lankan Education Ministry was the chairman of the committee while Prof Shantha Hennayake, geologist of international repute and deputy vice chancellor of the University of Peradeniya was the vice-chairman .
“There is no long term or even short term programmes in place to ensure the ecological stability of the region,” Prof Shantha Hennayake, vice-chairman of the high power committee told The Pioneer.
The committee has demanded the setting up of a Joint Environmental Management Plan for impact assessment and monitoring of the project area. “The work of the SSCP should have commenced only after the setting up of such a mechanism and ensuring the environmental and ecological stability of the region,” said Prof Hennanayake.
The committee found that the entire zone, graded by international environmental bodies as ecological and environmental hot spot faces the ‘prospect’ of total destruction because of the discharge of sewage, ballast water and oil by the ships sailing through the region.
The Sri lankan experts have questioned the validity of the mathematical modelling studies carried out by India. “The Indian studies is totally silent on the mitigation measures for impacts occurring on Sri lanka,” says the executive summary of the report.
The committee also expressed their concern on the lack of clarity on financing of mitigation measures and environmental management plans. “We should invariably be involved in the preparation of such an oil spill contingency plan in keeping with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ships (MARPOl Convention)”, said the report. They have asserted that a Comprehensive Joint Monitoring Mechanism between India and Sri lanka should be set up at the earliest. The experts have also called for a collaborative mathematical modelling between India and Sri lanka to assess and monitor the environmental impact due to the project.
M Karunanidhi, the DMK chief and the main protagonist for the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project , claims the channel would bring down the travelling time between the east and west costs of the country by nearly 24 hours. But what is hidden from the public is that the SSCP would be able to accommodate only ships of 25,000 DWT capacity. “Such ships are fast becoming museum pieces,” said Captain Hariharan Balakrishnan, former Indian Navy commander who has sailed in the region for four decades.
The Supreme Court stayed all works related to the SSCP following a petition filed by Subramanian Swamy, senior BJP leader. The apex court had appointed a team of experts under the leadership of R K Pachauri, eminent environmentalist, to study the impact of the SSCP on the region.