NEW DELHI: Rationality, religious beliefs, economics and environment have clashed raising heightened passions as the Indian government struggles to push ahead with an ambitious $4 billion Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project to make the Palk Straits, which lies in the Indian Ocean between India and Sri Lanka navigable for large ships. Currently large ships have to sail around Sri Lanka to get from India's West to East Coast. At the crux of the matter lies the fact that the proposed canal will have to dredge through a below sea level geographical formation termed the Ram Sethu or the Adam's Bridge, which is revered in Indian Hindu mythology. . According to the mythological epic Ramayana, the bridge was constructed by Lord Ram to facilitate his passage into Lanka to take on the King of Lanka (present day Sri Lanka) Raavan. Rationalists, who mainly belong to the Left-parties and a regional party in Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India, want the project to go ahead citing economic benefits for the southern State and the country in general. On the other hand, the right-wing comprising of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the AIADMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu have opposed the canal and want the bridge to be declared a heritage monument. Both the parties have approached the Supreme Court seeking that the government be made to declare the bridge a heritage monument. On Friday March 30, the Supreme Court gave the government two weeks to decide whether it can be declared a national monument. Tamil Nadu chief Minister Jayalalitha has shot off a strong letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying that he should tell the Supreme Court that it should be declared a heritage monument. The project would save considerable sailing time and would be a shot in the arm for India's shipping industry. The project's proponents maintain that the canal would dramatically transform the coastal economy of Tamil Nadu with several minor ports expected to come up along the coast and Tuticorin as its main port. Environmentalists on the other hand, said the canal would affect the coral ecosystems and the large biodiversity it supports. Economists also are skeptical about the economic feasibility of the project in terms of whether the money saved would cover up the money spent.
