Sethusamudram Project will create international boundary row: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has maintained its objection to the proposed Sethusamudram ship canal project, linking the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, saying that it could spark off an international boundary row.

New Delhi, June 26 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has maintained its objection to the proposed Sethusamudram ship canal project, linking the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, saying that it could spark off an international boundary row.

"It will create an unnecessary international boundary row. Actually there is a treaty signed by Indira Gandhi and then Sri Lankan President Srimavo Bandranaike which gives both countries the right to treat this water, and there is no international boundary in it. But once you make the canal through this alignment, it will make an international border and an unnecessary row," BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar claimed.

Under the 560 million dollars 'Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project' (SSCP), a channel will be dredged in the shallow portion of the sea off the southern tip of India so that vessels of up to 30,000 tonnes, including Indian Navy patrol vessels, will not have to circumnavigate Sri Lanka.

Work on the project, first proposed almost a century ago, was started in005.

Once finished, freighters sailing from one side of India to the other will no longer have to detour south around the bottom of Sri Lanka, saving up to 400 nautical miles and 36 hours.

Those opposed to the project have cited both religious and environmental factors. From a religious point of view, Hindus say it would require destruction of the 'Ram-Sethu', a 48-kilometer chain of limestone shoals, was constructed by Lord Ram, the king of Ayodhya.

Environmentalists say the project could have disastrous consequences for the marine and coastal ecosystems of Sri Lanka.

The Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, T.R. Baalu, recently told the Rajya Sabha that as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR), the project is scheduled to be completed by November, 2008.

There is no scientific evidence regarding the existence of any ancient man-made structure in the proposed Sethusamudram Ship Channel alignment. As per the information available, no heritage site has been declared in the project area, Baalu added.

ANI