Lanka raise concern about Setu project effects

Colombo, Sep 30: The Sethusamudram shipping canal project poses a grave danger to Sri Lanka's coastal and marine life, a member of a panel to study the impact of the project said.

''The project can lead to considerable changes in the wave currents and can affect marine life,'' CEO of Lanka Hydraulic Institute (LHI) Malith Mendis said.

''Sri Lankan authorities have investigated into the matter and are concerned over the dangers it poses to the biodiversity,'' the Daily Mirror quoted him.

The Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry received the investigation report earlier this year which raised concerns over the probable changes in the currents and biodiversity that the project can cause.

The Sethusamudram project creates a shipping channel dredging 167 km across the Palk Straits, Palk bay and Adam's bridge, connecting Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mannar, which will cut back the time spent on circumnavigating Sri Lanka when ships travel between East and West coast of India.

The project had stirred a controversy in India as it encompasses destruction of the mythical Ram Setu constructed by Lord Rama with the help of his monkey warriors to rescue his wife Sita from the clutches of Lanka king Ravana.

UNI