People being misled on Sethu project benefits, alleges Swamy

Chennai, Sep 6 (UNI) Launching a direct attack on the viability of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) vis-a-vis the claims being made by the Union and Tamil Nadu Governments, Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy today alleged that the claim that it would promote economic development was ''false''.

Addressing a press conference here, Dr Swamy, whose party had been opposing the destruction of Ram Sethu bridge as part of the SSCP, said the benefits and costs of the project were based on ''faulty calculations''. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) presented by the Union Shipping Ministry to the Union Cabinet for approval was aimed at ''misleading the nation about the financial viability'' of the project.

The claim that the sailing time between Tuticorin port and Colombo would be reduced by 36 hours and was cost saving, if the project was executed, was also technically not correct, he claimed, adding that this was because the ships passing through the canal could travel at a maximum speed of only eight knots per hour as against 12 knots per hour in open seas.

Hence, the projections in the project report that the number of ships using the proposed Sethu Canal would increase from 350 to 8,500 was also without any basis, Dr Swamy charged.

The cost of the project had been under estimated grossly and the revenue over estimated. The dredging costs have been exaggerated, calculated using an interest rate of eight per cent for loans taken in Rupee and four per cent for US Dollar loans. But since 2005, when the project report was cleared by the Cabinet, the prime lending rate in the US had climbed to eight per cent and in India to 13 per cent, Dr Swamy pointed out.

This completely altered the internal rate of return from the project and lowered it to two per cent if the other numbers were correct, he added.

Dr Swamy said even if the project was to be implemented for ''other reasons'', it could be done by digging through the 15 km mainland stretch between Pamban and Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu, adjacent to the disputed 'Ram Sethu' bridge, leaving it intact.

The Centre must approach the UNESCO to get 'Ram Sethu' declared as a World Heritage site, he demanded, adding that the Tamil Nadu Government must also develop the area.

UNI