The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Parties, activists debate pros and cons

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 01, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Parties, activists debate pros and cons

By Our Staff Reporter

TUTICORIN, NOV. 30. While most political parties supported the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) at a public hearing, organised by the TN Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), here today, a majority of environmentalists, social activists and fishermen, who appeared before a panel headed by the Collector V Chandrasekaran, termed the project `absolute disaster'.

R.S. Lal Mohan, former principal scientist, Indian Council of Agriculture Research, said the implementation of the project could jeopardise coral reefs in the region. The marine sanctuary in the Gulf of Mannar would also get destroyed.

Criticising the recent remarks made by a Union Minister that the project would not affect fishing activity, Dr. Mohan said scientific studies indicated that canal digging could kill fish and marine organisms in the area. He wondered whether the project was sustainable, as the Adam's Bridge area, where the canal would be constructed, remains an unstable area.

Comparison of the SSCP with the Suez and Panama Canal project was misplaced, as the latter did not require dredging.

M Jeeva, state committee member, Coastal Action Network, accused that the NEERI's ( National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) Environmental Impact Assessment report on the project, was not comprehensive.

"Most of the data on which EIA was drafted is secondary," he said. Dredging would be continuous. Hence the ideas in the EIA report on disposal of sand coming out during dredging look impracticable."

Fatima Babu, an environmental activist, urged the authorities to protect the livelihood of thousands of fishermen, who could be affected by the project. "Assessment of social and cultural impacts was not conducted before drafting the project report," she alleged.

Her efforts to permit more fishermen to speak at the hearing was refused by the Collector.

"The meeting was called to know specific issues, not to assess the strength of people," he said.

Saravanaperumal, a BJP representative, wanted to know the precautions taken to remove oil and other impurities that might spill into the canal when ships passed through.

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