Is the Sethusamudram project being laid to rest by litigations?

CHENNAI: It appears that the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP) is slowly dying due to litigations in the Supreme Court. Official sources say the project has been dormant for years due to litigations and there are no new developments.

The Centre had set up the Sethusamudram Corporation, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), under the Companies Act in 2004, with the Cabinet’s approval, to raise funds and implement the SSCP — a shorter shipping route between the country’s east and west coasts.

The SPV included the participation of the Shipping Corporation of India Ltd, Dredging Corporation of India Ltd, Vizag Port Trust, Kamarajar Port Ltd, Chennai Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust and V O Chidambaranar Port Trust.

The Rs 2,427 crore project was envisioned to shorten ship journeys by creating a channel between the Indian mainland and Sri Lanka. In September 2014, the then Shipping Minister, Nitin Gadkari, said the Union government has given RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service) the task of preparing alternatives to save Ram Sethu, a stretch of limestone shoals from Pamban Island near Rameshwaram in South India to Mannar Island off the northern coast of Sri Lanka.

According to Hindu legend, the structure was built by Lord Rama and his army of monkeys to invade Sri Lanka and rescue his wife Sita. The project was inaugurated during the UPA-1 regime in 2006. Initially, Rs 4,000 crore was allotted to start dredging work for the new shipping canal.

It has been learnt that the Sethusamudram Corporation has passed a resolution seeking an additional grant of Rs 115.72 crore from the  government to settle the dues of Dredging Corporation of India for the dredging work carried out at the project site along with a proposal to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.