India should not budge on Sethusamudram alignment

New Delhi, Mar 26: The BJP today demanded saving Ramasetu, the legendary bridge built during Ramayana times and asked not to succumb to the pressures of United States and accept an arbitrary alignment for the Sethu Samudram Canal Project (SSCP) intended to link east and west coasts of the southern peninsula.

Former Union Science and Technology Minister Murli Manohar Joshi who headed the BJP's panel to study the realignment of SSCP told newspersons today India should assert its strategic responsibility in providing security in the historic waters for sea-faring vessels, maritime traders apart from the protection of the environmental wealth of coral reefs and algae providing livelihood for millions of people living in the coastal area.

He said both India and Sri Lanka had attempted to register this waters as 'historic' in 1970s and 80s but the US did not recognise their claim. Now India was going to damage the historic bridge on its side of waters thereby going back on the claims it had made before the United Nations of declaring the waters of historic importance.

The US according to Dr Joshi was attempting to subserve the US interests of guarding sea-line traffic from straits of Hormuz in Persian Gulf "We should choose an alingment which does not provide an alibi to US and Indiua should not choose an alignment that is not too close to international waters boundary because present alignement does not facilitate free coast guard movement from both right and left banks of the channel.

Dr Joshi said no purpose would be served by breeching Ramasetu, referred to as 'Nalasetu' in Valmiki Ramayana, a bridge supervised by Nala, the son of Viswakarma, the legendry architect. Emotions of millions of Indians irrespective of the religion and castes were linked to this historic site which was not just a belief but were even recognised by colonial powers.

He said the present alignment was chosen prior to December 2004 Tsunami and it was only fair that a project of such economic importance is taken after a comprehensive study. The report sent by Tuticorin Port Trust Chairman to the PMO was arbitrary and hence the PMO should stop this work immediately until the study is conducted.

UNI