MADURAI: : The Rs.2233-crore Sethusamudram channel, for which work is set to begin by the third week of this month, throws up a sea of opportunities for infrastructure development in the southern districts.

The long-awaited project will give an impetus to shipping, fishing, shipbuilding, road and rail transport and service activities. It promises to create thousands of jobs, with channel authorities promising preference for the kin of fishermen.

On queue are massive expansion plans for the Tuticorin port, development of five fishing harbours along the east coast and creation of a minor port at Rameswaram. Fishing harbours will come up at Rameswaram, Mallipattinam, Nagapattinam, Setubhavachatram and Thondi. Rameswaram will be developed as a multipurpose port, where small vessels will be serviced. The authorities are considering introducing a ferry service for tourists between Rameswaram and one of the islands on the Adam's Bridge, where recreation facilities will be provided.

A museum and observatory, similar to the ones in the Panama and Suez canals, will come up near a site near the Mandapam refugee camp. A Rs.3300-crore project, under the National Marine Development Programme, has been worked out for developing the Tuticorin port.

Road connectivity in the south will take a giant leap with four-laning of important stretches. The Rameswaram-Mukundarayarchatram road that leads to Dhanushkodi is being widened as a two-lane stretch.

The Centre plans to widen the 186-km-long Madurai-Ramanathapuram-Dhanushkodi national highway at a cost of Rs 900 crores. A detailed report is getting ready. For the movement of machinery, the Tuticorin-Aruppukottai-Tiruchuzhi- Narikudi-Parthibanur road will be improved.

The State Government's role in getting the infrastructure projects implemented in time is being stressed by officials involved in the Sethu project. The lukewarm response to the proposals is a matter of concern as synchronising their completion with the Sethusamudram project will depend on how soon the land is acquired by the State Government. Several stretches of land have been identified for the Sethu project.

When Union Minister for Shipping T. R. Baalu visited some of the sites of the Sethu project in Tuticorin and Ramanathapuram districts on Sunday and Monday, ruling party MLAs and officials were absent.

At Mandapam, where the project office is to be located, the State Government official accompanying the Minister did not carry relevant records, including maps. Besides additional train services to Chennai and Bangalore from Tuticorin, links to New Delhi and the east and west will become a reality with the commissioning of the channel.

Tuticorin Port Trust officials have suggested that the Container Corporation of India operate trains from Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi exclusively to handle containers.

Cargo handlers feel that the CONCOR terminal at Meelavittan near Tuticorin could be developed as a container port, because the one at Madurai has not been performing to the desired level.

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