MADURAI: : "Environmental considerations have gained precedence over all others in designing the Sethusamudram channel project," says N. K. Raghupathy, Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust, nodal agency for the project.

Hence, a new alignment has been chosen, away from the five, suggested since 1961. It is a modified version of the one mooted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in 1998. A few bends have been straightened to minimise dredging quantities.

According to the environment impact assessment report, the alignment is more than 20 km away from the islands constituting the National Marine Park in the Gulf of Mannar, and 30-40 km away from the mangroves at Muthupettai, Kodiakarai and Adiramapattinam. "The marine biological resources around these islands will not be affected to any significant level... There would not be any significant change in water quality, including turbidity, due to the proposed deployment of cutter suction/trailer suction hopper dredgers for capital and maintenance dredging."

Post-tsunami studies have also revealed that turbidity will not spread beyond one km on the channel route. Four earlier alignments, which passed through the Gulf of Mannar National Marine Park, suggested land cuts at Mandapam or Rameswaram. The new alignment is a significant factor in getting quick environmental clearance from official agencies, though environmental activists could still have reservations. This alignment also facilitates safe disposal of dredged material at two places.

Dredging will be taken up on two stretches along the 167-km-long channel. There will be no dredging for a length of 78 km in the Palk Bay. It will take place along a stretch of 35 km in Adam's Bridge and 54 km in the Palk Strait. The project report prepared by L and T-Ramboll Consulting Engineers says 48 million cubic metres of dredged material will be generated in Adam's Bridge and 34.5 million cubic metres in the Palk Strait. The material from Adam's Bridge area will be dumped in the sea in the Gulf of Mannar at 20-30 metres of natural depth in Indian territorial waters, about 30 km away from Adam's Bridge. Material from the Palk Strait will be dumped in the Bay of Bengal at 25-30 metres.

The implementing authorities have drawn up an environmental management plan for construction and operation phases. The plan requires the contractor to have a dredging management programme before beginning the operation. Dredging should be avoided during the fish breeding and spawning periods. Five agencies, including the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, the Fishery Survey of India and the Zoological Survey of India, have been chosen for consultation. Periodic water quality monitoring, with emphasis on turbidity, will be conducted and submarine conditions recorded during dredging. All ships passing through the channel should comply with International Maritime Organisation standards and follow the Marpol convention. They will not be allowed to discharge bilge, ballast, treated sewage, solid and oily waste and spill cargo. The vessels should have proper treatment facilities for sewage, and treated sewage should not be discharged into the sea.

Dredging will be taken up by the Dredging Corporation of India the day a formal inauguration takes place in the third week of June. Global tenders will be floated for dredging in places other than the one earmarked for the DCI, according to Port Trust officials.

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