CHENNAI: A little over two million cubic metres of material has so far been dredged under the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP), S. Kannaiyan, chairman of the monitoring committee on environmental issues on SSCP, said here on Tuesday.

The Dredging Corporation of India is now working on a site in Palk Strait. The length of the segment is 13.57 km and work is on over 8 km.

Though the depth of the canal is 12 metres, it has to be dredged only up to 4 metres.

"Till now, only 60 cm of depth has been dredged," said Dr. Kannaiyan, who is also chairman of the National Biodiversity Authority, after chairing a meeting of the panel.

The meeting of the monitoring committee was attended by 13 members, including State Environment and Forests Secretary Surjit K Chaudhary, and chairman and managing director of Sethusamudram Corporation N.K. Raghupathy.

Emphasising that the dredging had no adverse impact on the environment, Dr. Kannaiyan, however, said it was the position as on date. "Nothing can be said about the possible impact that could take place in future." But perusal of similar projects in different parts of the world showed there had been no major changes in the marine system in such areas.

No abnormality

He said data from samples analysed for different parameters, including air/noise pollution, sedimentation, turbidity of water and content of heavy materials was compared with the baseline data obtained prior to the launch of the project. "All the values are within the permissible limits and no abnormality has been noticed."

Asked whether he could provide the data to the media, Dr. Kannaiyan said he did not have them immediately.

The scientists, who were now carrying out analysis of samples that covered living systems, had been advised to identify the presence of organisms that would be beneficial to mankind.

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