Karunanidhi to go on hunger strike on Monday over Sethusamudram project

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will be go on a day-long hunger strike on Monday in support of the Sethusamudram project.

Chennai, Sept 30 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will be go on a day-long hunger strike on Monday in support of the Sethusamudram project.

The decision to go on a fast came soon after the Supreme Court today stayed the October 1 shutdown call given by his party DMK, which has been demanding the early completion of the ship lane project.

According to initial plans, the octogenarian supremo of the DMK will be holding the dawn to dusk fast in front of the MLA office here , where leaders of the Democratic Progressive Alliance are expected to be present in full strength.

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 for ships moving from Arabian Sea to Bay of Bengal.

However, the Hindu groups have been opposing the 560 million dollars project, saying that it would destroy the 'holy' Ram Sethu, a 48-kilometre chain of limestone shoals that once linked Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to Mannar in Sri Lanka.

According to the Central Government, research has shown that the Ram Setu was a series of sand shoals created by sedimentation, but according to Hindus the narrow link, also known as Adam's Bridge, was built by Lord Rama.

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.

ANI