‘Save Kerala,Save Ram Setu’-PIL Filed

Chennai:Shri S. Kalyanaraman, Director, Sarasvati Research Centre filed a Public Interest Litigation requesting suspension of work on Sethusamudram Channel Project (SSCP) to Hon’ble Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India.

The PIL details about the the serious situation created by the choice of a channel alignment for SSCP without taking into account the impact of tsunami of the type which struck the coastline of Bharatam on Dec. 26, 2004.

Ramsethu in fact saved the coastline of Bharatam reducing the impact of the last tsunami. If the present alignment is continued, an enormous energy of the next tsunami will be absorbed through this channel and result in the destruction of Kerala.

Further, the creation of an artificial boundary between Srilanka and India in the Indian Ocean will adversely impact the livelihood of coastal people who will be prevented from crossing the channel boundary.

On 8 March 2005, Prime Minister’s Office raised 16 objections including the observations of the world-renowned tsunami expert, Prof. Tad S. Murthy of Canada who has been enaged as an expert by the Govt. of India to set up a tsunami-warning system in the country. Prof. Murthy is firmly of the opinion that this present alignment will destroy Kerala and most of the coastline of southern Bharatam. These concerns and the impact of a tsunami should be subjected to detailed, multi-disciplinary evaluation before work on a channel is resumed using any one of the other five alternative channels available (including the one recommended by GOI steering committee 1996) which will NOT involve destruction of Ramasethu.

There is also the issue of thorium and other rich mineral deposits close to the Ramsethu in Kerala thorium sands. The entire region should be subjected to geological exploration to utilize these mineral resources which will have a profound impact on the country’s nuclear program according to the website of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

Responses