A British commander's dream in 1860-the Sethusamudram Canal Project which promises to cut short travel time by ship between the east and west coasts of India by more than 20 hours-is proving to be a nightmare for environmentalists. What's more, there is a tug-of-war among politicians to take credit for it. The Rs 2,000 crore project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar on the east coast of India by creating a shipping canal through Adam's Bridge, a chain of shoals, near Rameswaram. This will provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula.

PICTURE SPEAK

FULL STEAM: Baalu (right) discusses the canal project with Raghupathy

With the Environment Ministry giving a conditional nod to the project in early April, the Sethusamudram Canal now awaits the Union Cabinet's approval. After the UPA Government set things moving in September 2004, Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu visited the coastal districts along which the project will be taken up. There was stiff opposition from eco groups and fishermen. Environmental activists argue that digging the 260-km-long and 300-m-wide canal would damage the coral reefs in the region, while fishermen fear it will affect their livelihood. Interactions between officials and people brought down the resistance, but Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who is supposedly unhappy with the fact that the project is taking off when the Congress-led Government is in power at the Centre, says the environmental aspect has to be looked into seriously. In early March, the Prime Minister's Office had issued a note to the Environment Ministry on sedimentation and possible damage to the canal in the event of a tsunami or cyclonic disturbances.

Meanwhile, experts have raised questions on the economic viability of the project. Says K.R.A. Narasaiah, former chief mechanical engineer at the Vizag Port and a World Bank consultant for port construction: "The project is no longer economically feasible. Modern ships are of over 1,00,000-tonne capacity, while the proposed canal can only let in ships of up to 30,000-tonne capacity." According to the people in the shipping industry, ships will have to slow down and drop anchor many times to navigate the narrow canal. "Ships consume more time and fuel on reducing speed and frequently dropping anchor," says Narasaiah. Tuticorin Port Trust Chairman N.K. Raghupathy, who is also the Sethusamudram project leader, is not willing to speak on the matter. The Shipping Ministry when contacted refused to go beyond the bureaucratic position that "the matter is being processed".

SWITCHING CHANNEL The Rs 2,000 crore Sethusamudram will create a continuous navigable route around the peninsula

BREAKING THE BARRIER: A 93-km-long canal will be dug through Adam's Bridge to connect the Palk Bay to the Gulf of Mannar. LONG CUT: Currently the ships sailing between the east and west coasts of India have to circumnavigate Sri Lanka. This means an extra day of travel and more fuel consumption. DIGGING DEEP: Construction of the canal will involve dredging in the shallow waters so that ships up to 30,000-tonne capacity could pass through it. THE THREATS CORAL REEFS: Damage to coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar can cause high sea tides. OIL SPILL: If currents in the Palk Bay are disturbed pollutants will reach coast. ENDANGERED SPECIES: Gulf of Mannar is home to species like the sea horse. ADAM'S BRIDGE: The chain of shoals acts as a natural barrier in the sea SETTING SAIL: Preliminary survey at Toothukudi

Concerns are also being raised about the technical soundness of the project. Narasaiah argues it is important to conduct a round-the-year study of the currents and changes in ocean floor during different seasons in the region to avoid any damage to the canal by violent currents. While Sethusamudram is projected as the Suez of the East, it is conveniently forgotten that the Suez Canal was constructed by cutting land and not by dredging in a strait.

Environmentalists are equally opposed to the project, which, they say, would ruin the biodiversity of the Gulf of Mannar, the second largest marine ecosystem in the world. Says Aarthi Sridhar, a fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Bangalore: "The rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) done by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, does not state what will be the impact of oil spill in the region."

Besides a fantastic range of coral reefs, the Gulf of Mannar is home to many endangered marine species, including sea horses, pipe fish and sea cows. The EIA mentions that the navigational route will pass 20 km away from Shingle Island and only 6 km from Van Tivu Island, both of which are part of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. Ministry of Environment and Forests' circulars, however, state that there should be a buffer zone of 25 km around national parks and sanctuaries. Says M.G. Devasahayam, managing trustee of the Citizen's Alliance for Sustainable Living, Chennai: "The canal area is biologically rich and among the world's highly productive seas. The Project implementation may damage coral reefs which, in turn, may cause high sea tides and surges." The canal will also facilitate movement of fish and other biota from the Bay of Bengal to the Indian Ocean and vice versa, which could be disastrous for the ecosystem.

Fishermen, on the other hand, fear that the canal will reduce their already inadequate fishing area and allow rare export varieties of fish to move away once Adam's Bridge, which acts as a check dam, is cut through. The Government has assured them they will be allowed to cross the canal when ships are not passing by but it does not cut much ice with the local people. "We can't wait for the government's green signal to set out to the sea. We need to go when there is a good catch," says S. Karuppusamy, secretary, Ramanathapuram District Fishworkers' Trade Union. Also, 5,000 fishermen families occupy the 2,500-acre land identified for dumping dredged material from the sea. In this case, dispelling people's doubts may be the long route but it is the best route the authorities can take.

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