Jyeshtha Krushna Ekadashi
HJS’ Save Sree Ram Setu campaign
Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue a directive putting the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP) on hold till all analysis were carried out.
In a letter to Manmohan, a copy of which was released to media here, he claimed the SSCP was conceived and inaugurated without the Ministry of Shipping doing the basic tectonic survey and risk analysis about the possible effects of tectonic changes in Gulf of Manar and Palk Strait as stated by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in its report.
‘Kindly therefore issue this decisive directive that the SSCP has been put on hold till all the analysis is done and that there is no commitment to implement the project at all costs,’ Swamy said.
He said he had suggested an alternative to SSCP by converting Tuticorin port into an international container port, connecting to Calcutta by a railway line along coastal areas. ‘This is cost effective and would generate more employment’.
Work on SSCP has been stalled as Supreme Court has reserved its order on the project and appointed an expert Committee headed by noted environmentalist R K Pachauri. The court was moved on the grounds that the present alignment would damage the ‘Ramar sethu,’ a bridge believed to have been constructed by Lord Ram.
Source: Newtodaynet
