Ram Setu : UPA should listen to experts and scrap Sethusamudram

Instead of trying to ride roughshod with the disastrous Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, and in the process destroy the ancient Ram Setu, the Union Government will do well to scrap the project once and for all. The Government had some time ago petitioned the Supreme Court to revive the project that the latter had stayed in 2007. But now, since an expert committee constituted to look into the viability of the Sethusamudram project has made clear that the scheme is neither economically feasible nor ecologically sustainable, the Government has no leg to stand on.

Yet, the Congress-led UPA regime has chosen to dismiss the findings of the committee that it itself had set up. Headed by noted environmentalist RK Pachauri, the committee this past Friday in its final report slammed the project that aims to build a sea channel connecting India’s Palk Bay to Sri Lanka’s Gulf of Mannar. This will allow large ships travelling from India’s western sea-coast to reach the eastern coast without having to go around Sri Lanka, as they presently do. This, in turn, is supposed to save time and money and also boost Tamil Nadu’s port economy.

However, as the RK Pachauri panel and many other experts have pointed out, there are several loopholes in the design of the project. First, the proposed canal will only be able to the handle vessels with a maximum of 30,000 tonnes in deadweight tonnage. But most large ships carry more than that amount of weight and they will not be able to use the route. Second, the Government’s claim that the canal will reduce 30 hours in shipping time is deceptive. Such a significant reduction in time will only happen in one route while in other cases, the travel time may increase as the shallow waters of the canal will slow down the vessels. Third, the tariff system as envisioned by the Government will deter many ships from travelling through the canal, leading to huge losses.

Then, there is the matter of destroying the Ram Setu itself. Also called Adam’s Bridge, this chain of limestone shoals that links Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to Mannar in Sri Lanka provides natural protection to the Indian coastline, and was in fact one of the biggest reasons why the States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala were spared the fury of the 2004 tsunami. If the Ram Setu is destroyed, these States will be exposed. Furthermore, dredging the Ram Setu will result in the destruction of fragile coral islands in that area. And that is not all. Under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958, there is also a question mark on the legality of tampering with the Ram Setu, which is considered by many to be a natural formation of hundreds of years.

Finally, of course, there is the religious aspect which cannot be ignored. For Hindus across India, the Ram Setu is physical proof of the bridge that was built by the Hindu god, Ram’s vanar brigade, so that the former could go across to Lanka and rescue his abducted wife Sita. The Ram Setu thus lies at the core of Hindu religious belief. By destroying it, if the Congress believes that it will strengthen its ‘secular’ credentials, it is hugely mistaken. The only brownie point that the party will gain by pushing through the project is the appeasement of its key ally, the DMK (which wants the project to go through), in the run-up to an election year.

Source : The Pioneer