The controversial Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project, connecting the East and West coasts of the country would be implemented without demolishing the Ram Sethu, a rock structure which the Hindus hold in high reverence. This was announced by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Roads, Highways and Shipping, at Rameshwaram on Tuesday.
Gadkari visited the Sethusamudram site, first on a Dornier aircraft belonging to the Coast Guard and then in a hovercraft. “There is no question of demolishing Ram Sethu. I fully understand how people hold the stone structure in reverence,” Gadkari told reporters after the visit to the site.The Minister said his officials have been examining the reports submitted by the public sector RITES about new and alternative alignments to complete the project without harming the Ram Sethu.Gadkari had given an assurance to the delegates of Ram Sethu Protection Movement which called on him late Monday night at Chennai.
“Gadkari said the project would be implemented without disturbing the Ram Sethu. He said the Ministry is in the process of finalising an alignment without demolishing Ram Sethu and disturbing the fragile environment,” Dr S Kalyanaraman, president, Ram Sethu Protection Movement told The Pioneer after the meeting with the Minister.The Sethusamudram Shipping Channel to be built through the Palk Straits envisages a shipping channel which would bring down the sailing time. Ships have to circumnavigate Sri lanka to reach the East and West coasts of the country now.
Dr Subramanian Swamy, senior BJP leader, had challenged the construction of the Sethusamudram Channel as it would lead to the demolition of Ram Sethu, a rock structure which according to the Hindus, was built by lord Rama during the battle against Ravana, the demon King who resided in Sri lanka. The project, devised during the UPA regime envisages the demolition of Ram Sethu to build the channel through the Palk Straits.
Navigation experts are of the view that the Sethusamudram project does not make any nautical sense. “However hard you try, only ships with 30,000 Dead Weight Tonnage (DWT) could sail through the proposed channel. Such ships have become museum pieces now. The shipping sector deploy only super and mega containers in the 1,50,000 to 2,50,000 DWT range. Such ships will not be able to sail through this narrow channel,” said Captain Hariharan Balakrishnan, a former commander of the Indian Navy and a master mariner.
The case is being heard by the Supreme Court which even appointed an expert committee led by eminent environmentalist RP Pachauri to find out the impact of the channel on the flora and fauna in the region as well as on the livelihood of the fishermen along the Rameshwaram coast. The Pachauri committee had told the court that the project would be unviable and not feasible economically as well as environmentally.
The AIADMK Government in Tamil Nadu too is against the project as it may rob five lakh fishermen of their livelihood. Scientists at the Centre For Advanced Studies in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, has warned that any dredging for the Sethusamudram Project would lead to the destruction of the fragile Gulf of Mannar ecology, one of the rare marine bio-parks in the world.