Friday, Sep 10, 2004
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By Our Special Correspondent
CHENNAI, SEPT. 9. Vaiko, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary, today joined issue with the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, on claiming credit for implementation of the Sethusamudram project. In a statement, he said the MDMK, soon after its formation in 1993, passed a resolution calling for the implementation of the project. Mr. Vaiko said that due to his efforts, the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, after returning to power in 1999, recommended a study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur. Recalling that there was an attempt by the Sri Lankan Government to sabotage the project in March 2003, Mr. Vaiko said though he was in jail at the time, he asked the MDMK Ministers in the Union Ministry to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister, urging him not to heed the Sri Lankan request. Based on the memorandum, the then Finance Minister, Yashwant Singh, announced in the Rajya Sabha that the project would be implemented within a time frame. After the United Progressive Alliance Government came to power in May this year, Mr. Vaiko said, he submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Now the project was included in the Common Minimum Programme. Though these were the facts, Ms. Jayalalithaa charged that he had not done anything to get the project cleared, Mr. Vaiko said.
History of project
Tracing the history of the project, he said the first study was made in 1860 by a Briton, Commander Taylor. Subsequently eight reports were published including the one by Dr. A. Ramasami Mudaliar in 1955. The project was included in the Fourth Plan in 1963 by the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Unfortunately it was put in cold storage at the intervention of the Sri Lankan Government, which feared that the project would affect its economy. But the Congress leader, the late K.T. Kosalram, repeatedly raised the issue in Parliament. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), after coming to power in 1967, adopted resolutions at all party conferences urging the Centre to implement the project. Mr. Vaiko said he himself had given a memorandum in 1981 to the then Shipping Ministry advisor, H.R. Lakshmi Narayanan. As a member of the Rajya Sabha, he raised the issue in Parliament several times. But the Shipping Ministry expressed its inability to implement the project owing to paucity of funds.
NDA Govt. `lacked will'
The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader, S.Ramadoss, said the demand for implementing the project had been made for the last 150 years. All political parties included it in their manifestos. When the PMK was in the Ministry during the previous regime, it made repeated requests to Mr. Vajpayee, for the implementation of the project. Unfortunately the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government did not have the will to take up the project. The Congress Legislature Party leader, S.R. Balasubramaniam, claimed that in 1996 when the United Front Government was in power it agreed in principle to take up the project and allotted funds for studies. But the NDA Government did not allot funds. So the Congress and its alliance parties alone should take credit for it, he said.
PT fears
While all parties were claiming credit for the project, the Puthiya Tamizhagam president, K. Krishnaswamy, expressed apprehension over its adverse impact. He said fishermen in Rameswaram and Tuticorin feared that the project would adversely affect the marine wealth and their income. Owing to heavy dredging there was a possibility of coral reefs on and around 23 small islands between Tuticorin and Rameswaram getting damaged, and an ecological imbalance might be created. He wanted the Government to conduct an impartial enquiry into the post-effects of the project.
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