Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Ramar Sethu issue

By asking the Centre to explore the possibility of an alternative alignment or any other route for the Sethusamudram project without damaging the Ramar Sethu, the Supreme Court has saved the UPA government from embarrassment for the present. But one wonders how an archaeological study can ascertain whether the Sethu can be declared a national monument in the absence of evidence of its historicity. Declaring it a national monument on the basis of mythological stories would be inappropriate.

If the study says there is evidence to declare it a national monument, it will be rejected by the rationalists and if it says there is no evidence it will be rejected by the Sangh Parivar. Either way, it is a thankless job for the ASI.

V.N. Gopal,

Chennai

The court’s suggestion appears to be a rational solution. But it is astonishing to note that the political divide on the issue fails to take cognisance of two important factors — potential loss of livelihood for thousands of fishermen and the environmental damage that the SSCP will inflict on the fragile ecosystem of India and Sri Lanka.

K.S. Sundaram,

Bangalore

The Ramar Sethu is only a natural geo-morphological marvel. The decision to go or not to go for the SSCP should be based on techno-economic, environmental, and social factors.

C. Udaya Shankar,

Hyderabad

The line that divides infrastructural development from the inevitable environmental destruction that the SSCP will cause is very thin. The equilibrium should be altered with utmost caution, that too only if the nation stands to benefit. It can definitely not be done for satisfying coalition compulsions and unfounded sentiments. Several alignments have been considered since 1948. But no recent study seems to have been carried out in the sea bottom of Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannar or even in the Ramar Sethu area to focus on sediment transport pattern, bathymetry, search for historical artefacts, and coral colonies and even to understand the unusual growth of the sea bottom. If the SSCP is to go ahead without affecting the Ramar Sethu, it can do so only by dividing the Rameswaram island into two parts creating a divide among the poor fisherfolk.

Commander G.V.K. Unnithan,

Mumbai

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