Tamil Nadu Assembly adopts resolution urging Centre to revive Sethusamudram Project

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, January 12

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday moved a resolution in the Assembly, urging the Centre to revive the Sethusamudram Project—the controversial project facing opposition from Hindu groups fearing that it may damage Ram Setu, the mythological bridge connecting Rameshwaram with the Mannar island of Sri Lanka—without further delay.

Stalin said the project for creating a shorter shipping route was important for the economic growth of Tamil Nadu and India. “Due to political reasons, the BJP opposed the Sethusamudram Project. Former CM J Jayalalithaa was in favour of the project but suddenly changed her stand and filed a case against it,” he was quoted as saying.

Amid the controversy surrounding the origins of the Ram Setu or Adam’s Bridge as it is also called, a plea filed by Subramanian Swamy seeking direction to the government to declare ‘Ram Setu’ a national heritage monument will be taken up by the Supreme Court in February.

Swamy has urged the court to direct the Centre and the National Monuments Authority (NMA) to declare Ram Setu as an “Ancient Monument of National Importance”.

Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project

Supporters of the project say it will create a shorter shipping canal and enhance economic prosperity and freight handling capacity of Indian ports and provide a continuously navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The latest plan, they claim, is the shortest course, requires least maintenance and avoids damage to Ram Setu.

Environmentalists, however, believe otherwise.

Ram Setu is a chain of natural limestone shoals between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island, off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka.

The channel would be dredged in the area passing through the limestone shoals, the environmentalists say.

Hindu groups quote Ramayana to say that the bridge was constructed by Lord Rama with the help of his army of ‘vanars’ to reach Lanka and rescue his wife Sita from Ravan and is a symbol of India’s heritage.

Initiated around July 2005, the project came to a halt after protests by environmentalists and Hindu activists against the demolition of the Ram Setu. The apex court in 2007 stayed work for the project. In the run-up to the 2021 Assembly election, the DMK, however, promised to complete the project.

SC to hear Ram Setu PIL in February

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would take up Subramanian Swamy’s plea seeking a direction to declare the Ram Setu a national heritage monument in the second week of February. The BJP leader submitted that he had already won the first round of the litigation in which the Centre accepted the existence of Ram Setu.