The dredging of Adam's bridge, the Southern end of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP), is to start from today in the presence of the Union Shipping Minister, Mr.T.R. Baalu. An estimated 48 million cubic metres of silt will be removed over the next two years to achieve a depth of 12 metres by the end 2008. The State owned Dredging Corporation of India, which has been entrusted with the job, would deploy three of its own dredgers immediately. Dredging Corporation of India has also been engaged in dredging the northern end of the channel for more than a year now, it may be noted that the cost of dredging for the entire project has been revised upwards from the original INR 17,200 to 21,700 million to take into account the impact of service charge which became effective from April 2005.
A news item that appeared on 'The Hindu', dated 10-07-2004, reported that Union Shipping Minister Thiru. T.R.Baalu ensuring that due precautionary measures were taken and there will be no damage to the Gulf of Mannar [GOM]'s biosphere while implementing the 144 year project SSCP.
SSCP : The Background
SSCP is a 144 year dream of Tamils. Commander A D Taylor from Indian Marine planned this SSCP project in the year 1860. In 1952 Sir A Ramasamy [Mudaliar] submitted a proposal and major feasibility report.
As per the present plan, the total length of SSCP would be about 260 km - about 120 km from Tuticorin Port to Adam's Bridge (in Gulf of Mannar), and about 140 km north of Rameswaram from Adam's Bridge to Bay of Bengal channel (in Palk Bay). Overall GOM and Palk Strait [PS] cover an area of 10,500 kms. The canal is being investigated for different drafts (for 9.15 m, 10.7 m and 12.8 m). In general, the canal will have a depth of 12 metres enabling 10,000 to 12,000 GRT vessels to pass through. The Government of India is proposing to dredge a width of 300 meter through 44 nautical miles long stretch. It is estimated that 32.5 million cubic meter sand will be dredged in the Adam's bridge area and around 52 million cubic meters in Palk Strait. [Read more at http://www.tamilinfoservice.com/manitham/environment/sscp/ir.htm]
SS project: Who looks after Lanka's interests?
The Construction of Sethusamudram, Ship Canal by the Indian government has become a controversial issue among the environmental groups in India and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately the Sri Lankan Government's position has not been made clear to the public yet. It was reported that the Indian government has suggested to the Sri Lankan Government that this canal could be used as a barrier to the terrorist movements. That could be a reason for the silence of the Sri Lankan Government. [Read more at http://iri.columbia.edu/~mahaweli/climate.lk_mirror/sethu/docs/hw.html]
Check out few documents
1. Is the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project Technically Feasible?[http://iri.columbia.edu/~mahaweli/climate.lk_mirror/sethu/docs/ram/r_ramesh.pdf]
2. Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project[http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb252005/536.pdf]
3. Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project: oceanographic/geological and...[http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/oct102005/1082.pdf]
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