Objections to Ram Sethu project baseless, centre tells SC

The union government has brushed aside the objections raised by Tamil Nadu state against the Rs25,000-crore Sethusamudram shipping channel project, telling the Supreme Court that it intends to go ahead with the venture as the expert panel headed by R K Pachauri has not come out with tenable and scientific data to show that it is a heritage site.

The Tamil Nadu government has demanded that the controversial project, which entails dredging the shallow Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka to create a shipping lane, should be scrapped and the centre should accept the committee report that has found the entire project unviable on two fronts - economically and ecologically.

The state government contends that the project would adversely affect marine biodiversity, and Ram Sethu – in Indian mythology, the bridge that Lord Ram built with the help of monkey god Hanuman to cross the strait – should be declared a national monument, the centre submitted that environmental clearance to it was granted only after a careful examination of all relevant factors and the project would prove to be beneficial in public interest and economic terms.

The affidavit by the ministry of shipping said, "The summary report has provided detailed guidelines for mitigation, including after the project is constructed, fully suggesting the project will be green-lighted.

"Yet, inexplicably, the committee concludes that the project is not viable. Conclusions are neither derived from nor supported by detailed scientific studies conducted by them," it said.

The affidavit further said the committee arbitrarily and contrary to the findings of its own studies concluded that the project is not viable. "Clearly, the recommendations of the committee are not tenable and are not supported by the scientific data and by the environmental studies commissioned by it," it said.

The centre said the committee's conclusion that Alignment 4A (an alternative route suggested by the court as against the original Alignment 6 which will cut through Ram Sethu) was not acceptable, was not supported by detailed studies.

Tamil Nadu's demand to declare the Ram Sethu or Adam's Bridge, located southeast of Rameswaram near Pamban in Tamil Nadu as a national monument did not find favour with the centre. "The committee of eminent persons constituted in 2007 has exhaustively studied the case for and against the project and has noted that no archaeological study has been undertaken in the Ram Sethu/Adam's Bridge area by the Archaeological Survey of India," the affidavit claimed.