Sethusamudram not good for big ships - Indian Navy Chief
Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Suresh Mehta has said that the
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP), which will dredge a channel
in a narrow strip of sea between India and Sri Lanka, would not be
useful for the navigation of the big ships.
"It is a viable project. But, on completion, it will be useful only
for small ships but not to those big ships navigating on international
routes," Mehta told reporters here on Monday night.
When he was asked to elaborate the matter further, Admiral Mehta
said:
This is Tamil Nadu. And it is a sensitive issue, and refused to
elaborate.
The 560-million dollar project, approved by the Government in 2005,
plans to dredge a channel in a narrow strip of sea between India and Sri
Lanka, reducing distances and cutting costs for freight traffic.
However, according to the Central Government, research has shown that
the "Ramsetu" was a series of sand shoals created by sedimentation and
therefore no religious sentiments should be attached to it.
When the project is finished, ships sailing between India's western
and eastern coasts will not have to go around the south of Sri Lanka,
and is expected to save up to 36 hours of sailing time.
Hindu groups, however, have been opposing the project, saying it
would destroy the 'holy' Ram Sethu, a 48-kilometre chain of limestone
shoals that once linked Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to Mannar in Sri Lanka.
ANI |