VHPs road blockade ends peacefully with stray incidents of violence(Second lead: VHP)

While no instance of major violence was reported during the daylong road blockade by the activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) against the Sethusamudram project, there are reports of clash between VHP activists and members of a minority community in Indore.

Indore, Sept 12 : While no instance of major violence was reported during the daylong road blockade by the activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) against the Sethusamudram project, there are reports of clash between VHP activists and members of a minority community in Indore.

The VHP activists and Muslims pelted stones at each other and burnt vehicles.

Madhu Kumar Babu, Deputy Inspector General, Indore said there were various theories about the reason of conflict.

"It could have been triggered after a member of one community was attacked by another," he said.

"As soon as we got the information, police personnel reached the place and controlled the situation," he added.

Over a dozen vehicles were damaged in the clashes. Police had to lob teargas shells to disperse the mob and arrested dozens of protestors as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, VHP activist blocked road and rail traffic across the country, but no major violence was reported.

In New Delhi, the VHP activists blocked traffic at several places, bringing the city's traffic to halt.

In Ayodhaya, considered birthplace of Lord Rama, Hindu seers took to the streets to protest against the project.

In Patna, protestors were successful in halting train traffic for a few hours.

In some areas, police used baton charge and fired in air when the activists tried to enforce 'chakka jam'. Hundreds of VHP activists were also arrested.

Activists of RSS, BJP and ABVP also joined the protest rallies from Jammu in the north to the Tamil Nadu in the south.

Trains at several places were halted leading to their delay by one to two hours.

The Delhi-Dehra Dun Shatbadi and Howrh-Barbil Shatabdi were detained at Saharanpur and Tatanagar stations respectively for a couple of hours.

Jammu witnessed a partial shutdown as shops, schools and business establishments were closed.

Activists also closed the Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar highway.

The VHP is against the government's plan to go ahead with the 560 million dollars Sethusamudram project, which they say would destroy the Ram Sethu, a 48-kilometer chain of limestone shoals that once linked Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to Mannar in Sri Lanka, believed to have been built by Lord Ram.

The Sethusamudram Project will dredge a channel in a narrow strip of sea between India and Sri Lanka, reducing distances and cutting costs for freight traffic.

According to the Central Government, research has shown that the bridge was a series of sand shoals created by sedimentation.

Dredging for the project began in 2005 and the channel -- 12 metres deep, 300 metres wide and almost 90 km long -- will provide a crucial link between the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar.

When the project is completed, ships sailing between India's western and eastern coasts will no longer have to go around Sri Lanka, and are expected to save up to 36 hours of sailing time.

The project has also sparked protests by other groups including conservationists and local fishermen, who say the dredging will mean dumping sediment in deeper water further out to sea.

This and increased freight traffic will harm marine life and threaten the livelihood of thousands of fishermen in both countries.

ANI