Modi Govt Set To Wind Up Sethusamudram Corporation. Cabinet Decision Likely Today

The Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd was formed by the UPA government for the Sethusamudram project to create a shipping route in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka.

Ram Setu or the Adam’s Bridge is a trail of limestone shoals that have taken the form of a natural bridge. ( Image Source :Getty Images )

New Delhi: The central government is learnt to be planning to shut down the Sethusamudram Corporation limited, which had been formed under the UPA government in 2004 as the special purpose vehicle set up for the Sethusamudram project. The Union cabinet meeting today is likely to take the decision on closing the corportion, sources told ABP News. The Sethusamudram project has been under controversy since the time the then government decided to move ahead with it. The BJP and various Hindu organisations opposed the project as it involved demolishing 'Ram Setu' which is of religious importance according to Hindu mythology.

According to an ANI report, the project was floated to build a shipping route in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka which would provide a continuously navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The channel would be dredged in the Sethusamudram sea between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, passing through the limestone shoals of Rama's Bridge which is also known as Ram Setu, Ramar Palam, and Adam's Bridge.

What is the Sethusamudram project?

Sethusamudram project is aimed at constructing a shorter navigational route around India’s southern tip by breaching the Ram Sethu, said to have been built by Lord Rama’s army of monkeys and bears to Ravana’s kingdom Lanka.

As per the Sethusamudram project, the shipping channel is proposed to be 30 mt wide, 12 mt deep, and 167 km long.

The court, on August 31, 2007, had restrained the Centre from damaging Ram Sethu while dredging for the Rs. 25,000 crore project inaugurated in 2005.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad-led groups had opposed the project on the grounds it would destroy a rock and sand ridge created by the divine hand as recounted in the Ramayana.

According to a report by the LIVE Mint, the Supreme Court’s final hearing on the matter was scheduled on 6th April 2018. However, the hearing has been withheld indefinitely.

The controversy behind Ram Setu

According to a PTI report, to complete the Sethusamudram project, Ram Setu was needed to be demolished. This sparked a major political controversy in the country under the then UPA government. According to mythological belief, Ram Setu is a bridge between India and Sri Lanka which was built by Lord Rama and his army to rescue Sita and defeat Ravana and his kingdom Lanka. This led to a huge dispute and the matter reached the Supreme Court. After hearing the case, the apex court banned the project and asked the government to find an alternate route for the project. Since then the work on this project has been completely stopped.

However, the biggest political controversy over this project began when the Congress-led UPA government submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court that Ram Setu was a 'imaginary' and hence there was no problem with the project. This hurt the sentiments of the people after which the government took a U-turn by giving a new affidavit listing reasons why the project was important. However, the work was stopped after the SC's direction but since then BJP has been demanding to declare Ram Setu as a monument of national importance and the matter is currently pending in the court.