Demand for Ram Setu national heritage tag
Recently, the Supreme Court will hear a petition demanding the status of national heritage to Ram Sethu.
- Ramsetu is also called Adam’s bridge. It is a chain of limestone shoals in a shallow sea between Pamban Island or Rameswaram Island on the south-east coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island on the north-west coast of Sri Lanka.
- Recently, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution urging the Center to resume work on the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP).
- In view of the implementation of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP), there has been a demand to give the status of national heritage to ‘Ram Setu’.
- Under this project, it is planned to build a shipping route between India and Sri Lanka for the movement of ships in the Palk Strait.
Two channels (routes) are proposed in it:
- Across the ‘Adam’s Bridge’ and
- Through ‘Palk Bay’.
The Supreme Court had stayed the work on this project in the year 2007. The Central Government is also keen to find another route for the SSCP without damaging the Ram Setu.
Importance of SSCP-
- Will reduce the shipping distance between India’s east and west coasts.
- Strengthening national security by improving navigation for Indian Coast Guard and Navy ships.
Concerns related to SSCP-
- It will destroy the natural barrier between the shallower and calmer waters of the Bay of Bengal and the ‘Pakistan Bay’.
- Oil and marine pollution caused by shipping traffic will affect the ecosystems of the region.
- People’s religious faith is attached to Ramsetu.
- It will also pose a threat to the coral reefs of the Gulf of Mannar.
Source – The Hindu