By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian Coast Guard Thursday warned of “security implications” from the Sethusamudram canal project off south India, giving a new twist to a raging controversy on its feasibility.
“There are security implications because of the closeness of the India-Sri Lanka maritime boundary,” Coast Guard chief Vice Admiral Rusi Contractor said here ahead of the 31st anniversary of his force, echoing similar remarks made by Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta in January.
“We have conveyed these implications to the government. Complications are there, and I am sure these will be addressed,” Contractor told reporters.
Contractor, however, declined to say whether there had been any response from the government. But he hinted that he was referring to the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers when he spoke about “security implications”.
“There is the question of the close proximity (of the maritime boundary) with a country with…a problem existing,” he said, in obvious reference to the dragging separatist drive waged by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
“If the seaway is opened up, there could be issues of piracy. Then, in a narrow channel, if a ship has some problem, then we’ll have to take preventive measures for the safety of the ship,” Contractor added.
Given all this, he was asked if the canal was a good idea.
“I won’t be able to comment on that,” the ICG chief replied.
A Hindu group opposed to the Sethusamudram project on religious grounds was quick to welcome Contractor’s remarks, saying: “No one should be allowed to play with the national security and economic viability of the country.
“The narrow canal would put the ships moving through it at a greater risk of attack by terrorists. Thus the project poses a security threat to the country,” Vinod Bansal of the Rameswaram Ramsetu Raksha Manch said in a statement.
“The naval chief and the director general of the Coast Guard are the two final authorities who have been entrusted with the task of national security. No one else could know better then them about the territorial security,” Bansal said.
“Looking to the concerns raised by the top security experts of the country, the government should not have any choice but to scrap the project,” he added.
The Sethusamudram project involves dredging a canal in the narrow strip of sea between India and Sri Lanka. Hindu groups as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have opposed the project, saying it would affect a bridge-like formation known as Ram Setu that is mentioned in the epic Ramayana and is considered sacred by Hindus.
Although the project got in-principle approval when the BJP ruled the country, there has been forward movement only in the last two years, with Shipping and Surface Transport Minister T.R. Baalu of the DMK, which now rules Tamil Nadu, giving the project his full backing.
The DMK claims he canal project would dramatically improve the economic condition of the state.
Environmental groups have also opposed the Sethusamudram project, saying it would destroy the fragile ecosystem of the area.
The Supreme Court, which is hearing petitions against the project, has permitted dredging work to begin with the caveat that the ecosystem of the area should not be damaged.