What is Adam146;s Bridge or Ram Sethu?

While the Sethusamudram project generates much political heat, what does it hold for India as a country? Aastha Manocha explores.

While the Sethusamudram project generates much political heat, what does it hold for India as a country and Hinduism in particular?

This multi-crore project had been first thought of during the British rule and in independent India in 1956. What the project envisages is a continuous navigational channel from the east coast to the west coast of India, which the nation currently lacks. Presently ships coming from the east coast of India to the west coast have to navigate around Sri Lanka and thus have to go an additional 424 nautical miles or 780 kilometres, which takes an additional 30 hours.

With the opening of the proposed channel, this distance and time will be lessened not just for the ships coming in from the west coast of India but also for trade ships coming in from other western countries. For any country looking to emerge as an economic superpower, the importance of faster and cheaper trade routes cannot be denied.

While studying this project six routes were examined, here it is important to know that the areas near the coast is rich in marine life like coral ridges etc. and any path cutting through this area would mean a tragic loss of ecosystems. The other path suggested by the opposition parties goes through this area and could also result in loss of livelihood of many small fisherme, whose primary source of income would be affected.

So the only viable option left is to dredge through the shallow area known as Adam8217;s Bridge or to Indians as the Ram Sethu. This option is hotly contested as it would have to go through the mythical bridge.

While it is true that there is no historical proof that Lord Ram built the bridge it is also true that faith needs no scientific and historical proof and debating on matters of faith isn8217;t usually fruitful. However, those protesting on the behalf of Hindus are requested to consider the rule of Lord Ram itself as an example. The mythical Ram Rajya is considered as an era of widespread peace and prosperity because the rulers took care of the subjects, putting their practical needs above everything else.

Even if we take the slightly hypothetical assumption that Lord Ram himself had to decide on whether to go ahead with a channel that would break through his own creation he would surely have done it so as not to deny the opportunities it would present to the people and the nation.

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As for the Ram Sethu fading into oblivion, that will never happen because the protests of the past few days have ensured that nobody forgets the existence of this mythical bridge. Besides, the nation will forever be indebted to those who are considered the custodians of Hindu faith for letting a major milestone in the nation8217;s development go ahead as per schedule.