By IANS
Chennai : Those opposing the Rs.24.5 billion Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project are “enemies of Tamil Nadu and of the economic progress of south India”, Shipping Minister T.R. Baalu said Thursday.
“The project is a 150-year-old dream of the Tamils that will bring economic prosperity to the entire south. All those who oppose it are the enemies of Tamil Nadu and of the progress of south India,” Baalu told reporters during the inauguration of the annual leather fair here.
His comments came on a day Indian Coast Guard (ICG) chief Vice Admiral Rusi Contractor told reporters in New Delhi that the project has “security implications” because the project is close to the India-Sri Lanka maritime boundary and these have been “conveyed” to the government.
Baalu, however, did not make a reference to Contractor’s remarks.
The project envisages creating a shorter sea route between India’s eastern and western coasts by dredging a shallow part of the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka.
Several Hindu groups as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have opposed the project, saying it would affect an undersea formation known as Adam’s Bridge, or Ram Setu mentioned in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
Baalu represents the DMK, Tamil Nadu’s ruling party and a constituent of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which has been insisting on going ahead with the project.
Environmental groups have also opposed the Sethusamudram project, saying it would destroy the fragile ecosystem of the area.
The Supreme Court has stayed the project pending the resolution of all contentious issues. On Thursday, it gave four more weeks to the government to file its affidavit on the project.