Building bridges

A highly sensitive row has erupted over plans to dredge a shipping lane through an area sacred to Hindus.

The chief minister of India’s southern Tamil Nadu state said the government was justified in planning a half-billion dollar canal that would allow ships to save more than 30 hours by skirting around the southern tip of India.

The plans and comments about a deity worshiped by millions have sparked protests and two deaths.

The shipping project involves dredging a lane through Adam’s bridge, a chain of islands between India and Sri Lanka.

The Hindu epic Ramayana says the   geographic feature was built by an army of monkeys to allow the god Ram to cross the narrow strip of sea and rescue his        kidnapped wife from a demon.

R N Iyer, above, is a financial controller in Bahrain and a newspaper columnist. The Bahrain-Saudi Causeway, he         believes, could provide a solution…

Should Indi

a benefit from the Gulf experience? View this in the light of the recent controversy over the Sethusamudram Canal Project in the south of India.

First, a short note on the project.

India is a peninsula bounded by three oceans namely the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea on the East, South and West respectively.

On the North of the peninsula is the mighty Himalayas. For centuries, ships charting the Indian waters have travelled from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal and vice versa by going through the Indian Ocean.

But to do so, ships have to navigate around the island of Sri Lanka .This is due to the fact that the Palk Bay between the southern tip of India and the northern tip of Sri Lanka is too shallow.

The South Eastern coast of India consists of coral reefs as on the coast of Bahrain.

A proposal to dredge the Palk Straits and have a ship channel was considered by the British government decades before even the Suez Canal was planned.

However, it was given up due to cost considerations.

Recently, during the period of the BJP-led government, this proposal was dusted out and considered afresh.

The environmental and other impacts were also studied by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) which gave the go ahead for a particular alignment. This was considered safe from all angles.

The project promises to save millions of dollars in terms of fuel alone for ships travelling the coasts of India.

Oil being costly and conservation of oil becoming dearer, this project was taken up.

The project also gained significance from the security angle since Indian Navy ships have to pass through Sri Lankan waters at present.

Thus the project, having an outlay of millions of dollars, proved to be a win-win solution.

The state of Tamil Nadu, on the East coast stands to gain substantially due to the economic development the channel promises to bring in.

Thus all stake-holders agreed and the green signal was given for the project and dredging commenced.

It is at this, the question of religious beliefs come in.

India has two major sacred texts – one the Ramayana and the other Mahabharata.

Although made up of different sub-cultures, India holds certain beliefs, in common. One such belief is the belief in Ramayana which has renderings in almost all languages in India.

The Ramayana talks of Lord Ram who ruled India. When he was the crown prince, he had to spend a period in forests, to adhere to a promise of his father.

In the forest, Ravana, the King of Lanka, abducted Ram’s wife Sita.

To recover Sita, Ram traverses the entire length of India on foot, along with his brother Laxmana.

He comes to an alliance with Sugriva the King of the southern territories and decides to attack Lanka.

His trusted lieutenant Hanuman jumps over to Lanka to locate Sita and does the job of an envoy too. To cross over the waters, Ram builds a bridge from Rameswaram in India to Talaimannar in Lanka.

To build the bridge over the Indian Ocean, Ram gets help from the Architect in Heaven. Thus a bridge is built with boulders that float on water.

The army of Ram crosses over to Lanka and after defeating Ravana in battle, Ram regains his wife Sita. They all return using the Airplane used by Ravana in those days.

This is just story, non-believers say. But there are strong indicators of technological development of those days.

The reference to Airplane, floating bridges and air tunnels cannot be just wished away. There was a period when the Indian subcontinent was blessed with high technology.

The presence of the bridge between India and Lanka is clear even in satellite images taken by NASA.

Now the issue has gained significance since a group of people have questioned the legitimacy of the project.

Their objection is basically on destroying the bridge built by Ram (referred to as Ram Sethu by believers and as Adams bridge by NASA).

This group maintains that destroying parts of the bridge by dredging will also prove environmentally destructive.

Ramayana mentions that a bridge was built between Rameswaram and Talaimannar.

Now let us have a look at associated facts.

Try driving on the road from Kanyakumari at the tip of the continent to Tirunelveli on the East coast.

The wind is so powerful it may even throw your car off. It is from Mahendragiri at this location that Lord Hanuman, emissary of Lord Ram jumped to Lanka.

Look at the phenomenon like that of a wind tunnel, which theory is used in aviation.

It seems really plausible that the wind power in the direction of Lanka is very high here.

No wonder 90 per cent of the wind turbines used to generate electricity is located in this stretch called Aralvaimozhi and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has a high-tech station on Mahendragiri.

The theory of sub-continental drift has us to believe that the land mass had drifted after parting, due to some geological phenomenon.

Be that as it may, that theory shows that the land mass was contiguous at some point of time. It only supports the Ramayana thesis that a bridge was built at that site.

India had the expertise for high-rises and bridges which unfortunately was not documented properly.

Look at the mention of the expertise provided by the Architect of the Gods.

The story mentions that he provided the expertise for building the bridge. It says the blocks used for the process floated on water.

Earlier, many would have scoffed at the suggestion. But it is now found technically feasible to have floating concrete structures.

One such structure is the flotilla or Floating Hotel near Kovalam in Kerala.

The structure virtually floats on saline water. This only goes to prove that a bridge was in need built at Pamban.

Now look at the environmental impact.

The coral reefs definitely provided a support in times of tsunami. It will continue to be of support always.

If we look at the whole universe as a master design by the Lord, will it not be foolish to meddle in parts?

Opening up the area by dredging will definitely alter the ecology and will surely harm the sub-continent as a whole.

Any one who has any rudimentary idea of oceanology is sure to understand that ocean currents play a very important part in influencing climate. By altering the sea bed drastically by dredging, we will sure disturb the existing sea currents and bring in disaster.

Indian  mythology is full of reference to flora and fauna and the earth. They have given pride of place to many so that they are worshiped. If that is not preservation, pray what is?

Understanding the Sethu and Ramayana should be in that light. Savings in transit time and fuel by themselves do not mean anything if in that process we destroy the basic structure of the subcontinent.

Why not think of an alternate proposal?

l Build a real bridge or causeway at the location.

l Imagine the scenario. A causeway connecting Sri Lanka and India at the location of the Sethu.

l Around 30km long, it should have a six lane highway.

l It should also have a two lane rail road.

l Think of the enormous boost to tourism and trade if that becomes a reality.

l Think of the enormous development for the coastal districts.

Will it not be better than the channel?

To build the causeway there is no need to dredge extensively.

And India can learn a lot from similar projects already functioning in the Gulf like the causeway between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and the proposed rail link between Bahrain and Doha.

If these can be done in the Middle East, why not in India.

For such an ambitious project, funding will not be a problem at all.

The causeway will be the best way out of the present impasse on the Ram Sethu.