That it’s on the scale of the Suez and Panama canals may not be true but all agree that the Rs 1,500-crore Sethusamudram is an ambitious project: a shipping lane off Tamil Nadu, created by dredging points at Adam’s Bridge and Palk Bay to open a link with the Gulf of Mannar. Once completed, ships headed for India’s east coast needn’t sail around Sri Lanka. In short, the new sea route will knock off an extra 400 nautical miles and 36 hours of ship time. But the project now finds itself neck-deep in Tamil Nadu politics. DMK’s Shipping Minister at the Centre, T R Baalu, wants it to go full-steam, preferably before the next Assembly elections in the state. Last week, he short-listed three companies, including one from the Netherlands, for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) on Sethusamudram. Such is the hurry that the Tuticorin Port Trust extended the last date for submission of DPR proposals from July 5 to July 12. The companies wanted time until July 22. The National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) submitted the environment impact assessment (EIA) study of the project in May. The Tuticorin Port Trust has now sought clearance for the project from the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board. Given the relations between the DMK and the ruling AIADMK, it’s not going to be smooth sailing for Sethusamudaram. But the DMK has its own counter: it has an Environment Minister at the Centre in A Raja. On July 7, the Environment Ministry notified that all office complexes with investment upto Rs 50 crore would require Central clearance under EIA Notification, 1994. In effect, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s plans for a state secretariat complex in Chennai will have to be cleared by Raja who represents Perambalur in south Tamil Nadu. While Tuticorin Port Trust chairman Raghupathy is confident that Chennai will clear the Sethusamudaram project, it’s clear to all now that the go-ahead for the canal project is linked to the secretariat complex. But Tamil Nadu politics is only a part of the problem. The Shipping Ministry rejected routes chosed by earlier studies and steering committees, ostensibly to save the Mannar marine national park. But others in the government and experts are asking about the economic feasibility of the project. The new ship canal route is close to the India-Sri Lanka international boundary, keeping a minimum 6-8 km distance from Van Tiu island near Tuticorin and about 20 km from Shingle island at Adam’s Bridge. Experts associated with earlier studies, however, want the canal to be aligned in such a way that it cuts a small land segment at the end of Rameswaram so that a port, like Kakinada and Adani, can be created to boost commercial activity in south Tamil Nadu. This proposed port, the Shipping Ministry has been told, will not only provide job opportunities but also cut project costs. Plus it will make it more lucrative for private companies to participate in the joint venture. Baalu declined to comment on a detailed questionnaire sent by The Indian Express but it appears that the Shipping Ministry itself is having second thoughts on the project’s economic viability. Naval hands, on their part, too are unsure about the project since the canal is too close to the international boundary limit with Sri Lanka and vulnerable to LTTE threats. Naval experts also feel that the new route should be re-oriented in a general South West-North East direction in keeping with the monsoon effects and reduced dredging costs. But Baalu, it’s learnt, is banking on the Centre to provide funds for Sethusamudaram if private parties don’t step forward. His loyalists point out that Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s constituency Sivaganga also lies in south Tamil Nadu. Yet they know all that will have to wait until Jayalalithaa’s pollution control board gives the go-ahead.
