Sri Lankan environmentalists take issue against Sethusamudram

by Manjula Fernando

Local environmentalists have called on the government to make high level representations to Indian authorities on the controversial Sethusamudram ship canal project, before it is too late.

They maintain that Sri Lanka is still not cleared of all likely negatives resulting from the project, including possible implications on the monsoonal rain patterns which the country's agricultural sector is solely dependant on.

At a seminar organised by the Green Movement of Sri Lanka at the Mahaweli Centre on Monday, the environmentalists warned the canal project could trigger unforeseen environmental impacts that would be detrimental in the longer run other than the predicted ones like irreversible damage to the rich marine ecosystem and environment pollution. The seminar was attended by academics, diplomatic community, local environment groups and Green Peace, India.

Citing reports by Indian academics and environmental experts, they pointed out that the Indian EIA lacks an adequate assessment of how the marine environment would be affected by dredging and also possible blasting if hard rock is encountered under the soft sediment.

The project proposes to dig a 300m wide and 20 m deep shipping canal in the Palk Straits at a cost of US $ 550 million, connecting India's western and eastern coasts for ship movement without circumnavigating Sri Lanka.

The project, entirely in the Indian territorial waters involves dredging in two shallow locations in the sea including part of the Adams bridge.

The conference focused on the environment impact of the project as well as the role and responsibilities of the Sri Lankan Government with respect to the International Ocean Law. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is scheduled to make her first official visit to India on Thursday.

She is expected to take up the Sethusamudram issue with Indian Leaders during bilateral discussions which will mainly revolve round the tsunami reconstruction plan and the proposed mechanism for North and East reconstruction, Presidential Secretarial sources said.