Date:01/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/01/stories/2008020160611700.htm

National

Ready for another study: Moily

Special Correspondent

M. Veerappa Moily

NEW DELHI: On the day the Supreme Court gave the government four more weeks to file its affidavit on the Sethusamudram project, the Congress indicated that if the court so desired there could be another archaeological and scientific study on the project.

“This is not an issue that can be bulldozed. There are issues involved and now that the Coast Guard has pointed out a problem, we need to take a holistic view on it. If the court says so, the government is ready to carry out another study,” said M. Veerappa Moily, AICC media committee chairman.

At the same time a Congress document, produced by the Department of Policy Planning and Coordination and headed by Mr. Moily, pointed out that the Adam’s Bridge, also called Ram Sethu, was “not man-made,” but a naturally formed chain of sand banks.

Contradicting the BJP’s claim that proper studies on the project were not conducted, the document said that much of the project preparation, including the selection of the alignment, was done during the National Democratic Alliance government.

“Only the implementation stage was flagged off by the present government after the process of technical appraisal was duly completed. In other words, the project has been pursued by successive governments of varying political affiliations and its implementation is a logical culmination of the process,” it said.

The document described the Sethusamudram project as one that aims at connecting the Gulf of Mannar with the Palk Straight in the Bay of Bengal by digging a canal to make it navigable.

It envisages the dredging of 167 km of the channel, 300 metres wide and approximately 12 metres deep. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 2,427.40 crore.