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Friends,
As a school going boy in the early 1960s, I used to listen to demand
of political parties in Tamilnadu for immediate implementation of
Sethusamudram Canal Project and how it would transform Tamilnadu with
rapid industrialization. It is by sheer coincidence that I have been
associated with planning of the proposal for the past three years.
2. Certain facts need to be considered
while discussing the project.
Firstly, it is a site specific project. A
channel linking Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait can come up only
between Mandapam in Ramanathapuram District of Tamilnadu, India and
the Indo-Sri Lankan maritime boundary, which passes through the
Fifth Island in Adam's Bridge.
Secondly, the channel will have to be
within Indian waters. Given the fact that the channel may affect
economic and strategic interests of Sri Lanka, Co-operation between
India and Sri Lanka for utilizing the natural depths available in the
Sri Lankan side of the maritime boundary is not feasible. Such
co-operation would have led to drastic reduction in the capital cost
of the project. When I made a proposal to this effect to the Sri
Lankan delegation in January, 2005, I could see their shock and
disbelief.
Thirdly, the channel will be in the
vicinity of ecologically sensitive areas on the Indian and Sri Lankan
coasts such as the marine park, coral reef, wild life sanctuary,
mangroves and fishing grounds. Therefore, there is a need for a
project design which will minimise the ecological risks if it is not
possible to eliminate them altogether. This will also entail designing
of an excellent Environmental Management Programme, clear in its
scope, meticulous in detail and amenable to implementation.
3. When we entrusted the task of Detailed
EIA and Techno-Economic Feasibility studies to the National
Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur in May, 2002, the
underlying assumption was that there was political consensus within
India on the essentiality of the project. This is the premise on which
we have worked. In spite of certain views expressed recently, I
believe that the political consensus is still valid.
4. All the post-independence studies since
1956 had no doubt about the Technical feasibility of the project.
Financial viability was clearly established in several of the studies.
Possibly, international diplomacy and dearth of public funds and
political will were responsive for taking the final step-investment
decision.
5. In the 1990s, another dimension came to
therefore-the need for environmental viability of this project, like any
other development project in any part of the country.
6. After the Initial Environmental
Examination conducted by NEERI in 1998 which established that the
environmental viability is maximised by shifting the proposed
alignment further east, it was only a matter of investment
decisions-on preparation of required EIA studies and DPR and the final
investment decision.
7. This website hosts all information on
the studies undertaken by the Tuticorin Port Trust since 1997,
commencing with the Initial Environmental Examination. whereever, such
reports are available in Tamil, they have also been placed on the
website. The scope and content of the website will certainly increase
in the next few months and let me assure everyone that all
information on the Project and its implementation-and later operation
and maintenance-will be placed on the website in a transparent manner,
as no other project of this size and importance - be it in the public
or private sector-has ever done in the country.
8. Though we believe that all required
studies comparable with international standards have been carried out
for the project, we are open to suggestions. kindly offer your views
and suggestions.
In the meantime let us rejoice that at last the work on the project
has begun.
We will keep in touch through this
website.
Yours Sincerely
N. K. RAGHUPATHY, IAS
CMD, Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd.
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