RAMA SETU
ANUBHUTI
VISHNOI
Indian Express
Monday December 10 2007 00:30 IST
NEW DELHI: Forced to call off work on the Rs 2,427-crore Sethusamudram
Ship Channel Project after an embarrassing affidavit doubting
the existence of Ram kicked off a political storm, the Ministry
of Shipping can now heave a sigh of relief.
This
website's newspaper has learnt that an expert committee report,
factoring in views from diverse quarters, has given the green
signal for the flagship project to resume. The report, running
And has underlined its existence as a geo-morphological feature/
formation similar to those found in several parts of the world.
Photos of similar features of chains of shoals have been included
in the report. The expert committee report has also cleared the
current alignment as the most feasible.
The
report clearly says that there is no tangible evidence to prove
any manmade structure at the project location. The Adams
bridge or Ram Setu is like several other geo-morphological features.
The committee, however, has taken viewpoints of all those who
wrote to it and appeared before it for a personal hearing. These
views have also been put in the report. Its recommendations are
in favour of the project after having examined all issues,
a senior official said.
The
project envisages dredging of a near 90-km-long channel across
the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka that will allow ships
sailing between the east and west costs of India to have a straight
passage through Indias territorial waters, instead of having
to circumvent Sri Lanka. This will cut an estimated 780 km and
up to 30 hours in sailing distance and time.
The
10-member committee received several representations. Over 2,000
applications from states were posted to the committee for or against
the project and with suggestions. Several personal hearings were
also held.
So
much so that with the massive response to the committee - 130
persons appeared before it within a fortnight of it being formed
- the committee sought more than the stipulated one-month time
from the government to submit its report.
That
report is due to be submitted to the Supreme Court by December
11 but sources told Express that the government is likely to buy
a little more time to examine the report before submitting it.
With the Ministry of Cultures affidavit having caused enough
damage to the project, the UPA wants to tread very carefully this
time.
The
views raised before the committee span the entire gamut of issues
on the controversial project ranging from economic viability to
environmental, navigational, security, historical, religious,
social and developmental factors.
The
expert panel recently came in for criticism with several people
questioning the credibility and neutrality of its members, many
of whom are actively associated with the project. But the apex
court turned down the plea made by Janata Party president Subramaniam
Swamy - he has also testified to the committee - that the panel
be scrapped and replaced by independent experts.
The
committee was constituted by the government in October and invited
objections and suggestions from all concerned including the petitioners
in the cases in the Supreme Court having interest in the project.
Its
members are: Prof S Ramachandran, Chairman of the Monitoring Committee
on Environmental Impact Issues for the Sethusamudram Shipping
Channel Project and Vice Chancellor of Madras University; S R
Wate, Deputy Director, National Environmental Engineering Research
Institute (NEERI), Nagpur; R K Jain, Managing Director, Indian
Ports Association; M. Sakthivel, president of Aqua Culture Foundation
of India; R S Sharma, former professor of History, Delhi University;
Dilip K. Biswas, former chairman of the Central Pollution Control
Board; J R B Alfred, former Director of Zoological Survey of India,
Kolkata; P. Jagadeesan, former Vice-Chancellor of Bharatidasan
University, Tiruchi; Y. Vaikuntham, former VC of Kakatiya University
and K. Paddayya, director, Deccan College, Pune.