Experts' report set to reignite Ram Setu row

New Delhi: The stage is getting set for renewed hostilities between UPA and Sangh Parivar over the Sethusamudram project with T R Baalu’s Shipping Ministry touting the report of experts to say that no man-made structure (Ram Setu) existed.

The report will enable Baalu’s DMK leadership to renew pressure for early commencement of the project at a time when the Sangh Parivar has upped its ante on it amid all indications that it may be an issue in the armoury of the rejuvenated BJP.

The government constituted a 10-member committee of "eminent" persons headed by S Ramachandran, vice-chancellor of Madras University, to examine the Sethusamudram ship canal project in the wake of the furore over the Centre’s affidavit doubting the historicity of Lord Rama.

The report says, "As per the geological, geographical and remote sensing investigations carried out so far, the Adam’s Bridge area is of natural origin with a particular stratigraphic sequence, formed due to marine geomorphological and coastal shoreline processes. Studies by Geological Survey of India also confirm this."

The government has defended the Rs 2,427-crore project that will dredge a channel in a narrow strip of sea between India and Sri Lanka, claiming that it will help reduce distance and cut costs for freight traffic. It, however, has been vociferously opposed by the Sangh Parivar, besides conservationists who are concerned about the repercussions on the marine ecology.

After its wins in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, BJP, which has accused the government of insensitivity towards the beliefs of the majority community and of attempting to destroy evidence of the existence of a ‘sethu’ (bridge) believed to have been built by Lord Rama, has indicated its desire to use it as one of the themes for the coming elections.

Incidentally, Ramachandran also headed the monitoring committee on the Environment Impact Assessment for the project. Making a strong pitch for the project, his report suggests that most of the apprehensions are based on wrong presumptions and not on any fact or scientific data. The committee has argued that no archaeological studies have been undertaken in the Ram Sethu/Adam’s Bridge area. "As yet, no evidence pertaining to archaeological remains of any manmade structure are known from this area," the report stresses.

However, the expert panel has recommended that archaeologists should be associated during the dredging work of the project in the Adam’s Bridge area in order to report and recover artifacts and archaeological features, if any.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com