The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Consultants to be finalised soon for Sethusamudram project

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 16, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Consultants to be finalised soon for Sethusamudram project

By Our Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE, JUNE 15. The consultants for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the Rs. 2,000-crore Sethusamudram project will be finalised shortly, the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, T.R. Baalu, told a press conference here today.

The Minister, who had a meeting with the Chairman of the Tuticorin Port Trust (nodal agency), N.K. Raghupathy, said the port trust submitted applications for environment clearance to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Department of Forests and Environment, Tamil Nadu, on June 9 and 14. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, already prepared an environment impact assessment (EIM) and it was enclosed with the applications.

This was the first major step initiated by the Centre on the project, which had been hanging fire for the past 140 years, Mr. Baalu said.

He pointed out that the DPRs prepared by Sir A. Ramasamy Mudaliar for Rs. 9.98 crores in 1955; by Lakshminarayanan, Advisor to the Shipping Ministry in 1983 for Rs. 282 crores and by the Pallavan Transport Corporation Consultancy Services in 1996 for Rs. 760 crores could not materialise. "Now that we have submitted the applications for environmental clearance, we would advertise by June 20 for selection of consultants to prepare a new DPR."

" I am confident that by November 30 the DPR would be submitted", he said. The proposed shipping canal would have two legs — one near Point Calimere, called the Bay of Bengal Channel, and the other across Adam's Bridge. While navigational depths would be used in the Gulf of Mannar from the Tuticorin Port to the Adam's Bridge area, a 20-km long and 300-metre wide canal with a 10.7-metre draft and with two-way controlled traffic would be created by dredging the shallow area of Adam's Bridge up to 12 metres. Similar excavation would be done in the Palk Strait, to achieve the required draft over a stretch of 36 km.

The project, which envisaged cutting of a sea canal linking the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay to provide a continuous sea route along the east coast of India, would obviate the need for ships detouring Sri Lanka, saving in voyage time by reducing the distance of travel by 400 nautical miles. "Thus, it would substantially reduce fuel consumption also." Asked about the time frame for the project, Mr. Baalu said it would take 3-4 years from the time of sanction.

To a question on the budgetary allocation, he said, "all I can do is to request the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, to do the needful."

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