Proposed demolition of 'Ram Setu' opposed

Rajkot, Mar 5 (UNI) The Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha has strongly opposed the proposed demolition of the Ram Setu under a shipping canal project.

The National Secretary of the Sabha, Swami Parmanand Saraswati, while addressing a press conference here today said seers and Jagat Guru Shankracharya would meet in Delhi on March 9 to chalk out an action plan to register their opposition.

The secretary said contracts had already been awarded for the demolition of the bridge. Setu Bandh Rameshwaram is a place of worship and it should be protected at all costs, he stressed.

Studies by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have shown that the bridge at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu is 17.5 lakh years old, the Sabha secretary said. Pictures taken by NASA from space shows the remains of what appears to be an ancient man-made bridge between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka, he said.

This discovery by NASA confirms that ''Ramayana'' is not just a mythology as believed.

The shipping canal project ''Setu Samudran'' has been approved by the Union Government and is set to begin near Kodand Ram Temple.

This will allow ships and boats to navigate in the passage between India and Sri Lanka and is expected to save about 400 nautical miles voyage on the west coast.

The Sabha secretary said that according to experts, a sea route may be established without demolishing the Ram Setu. He urged the government to reconsider the project in view of the historical and religious importance of the bridge.

Various religious heads like Madhavpriya Dasji, Jagdish Shashtriji, and Punyoday Sagar Suriswarji have protested the Centre's decision.

The Association of Indian-Americans of North America (AIANA) chairman Suresh Jani, who was also present at the press conference, also expressed his organisation's support to the saints.

UNI