#Sethusamudram ship channel project set to be beached
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சேது சமுத்திரத் திட்டம் குறித்த வழக்கு உச்ச நீதிமன்றத்தில் நிலுவையில் உள்ளது. New Indian Express, Business Line என்ற ஆங்கில ஏடுகளில் மட்டும்தான் இந்தச் செய்தியை வெளியிட்டது. வேறெந்த தமிழ் மற்றும் ஆங்கில ஏடுகளோ, செய்தி ஊடகங்களோ இந்தச் செய்தியை வெளியிடவில்லை, ஒரு முக்கியச் செய்தியை கூட இதழாளர்களின் கவனித்திற்கு வாராமல் போனது கவலையான விசயம்.
SCL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up under the Companies Act in 2004, with the Cabinet’s approval, to raise funds and implement the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP) — a shorter shipping route between the east and west coasts of the country.
The SPV was formed with equity participation from state-run firms such as Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), DCI, Vizag Port Trust, Kamarajar Port, Chennai Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust and VO Chidambaranar Port Trust. SCI and DCI had invested 50 crore and 30 crore, respectively, as equity in the project.
Billed as India's Suez Canal, the 2,427.40-crore project was to reduce the voyage time between India's western and eastern coasts by as much as 36 hours and distance by up to 424 nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1.82 km), by creating a channel between the Indian mainland and Sri Lanka.
Ships now take a detour around Sri Lanka. In the absence of a continuous navigational channel connecting the east and west coasts, the ships sailing between the two coasts of India and along the international shipping routes have to circumnavigate Sri Lanka, due to the presence of a reef, known as Adam's Bridge, located south-east of Rameswaram near Pamban in Tamil Nadu.
An ambitious scheme was formulated to create a continuous navigational channel around the Indian coast to overcome the hurdle.
The SPV has so far spent 836.35 crore on the project, which involved boring a new shipping lane connecting the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal through Palk Straits and Palk Bay.
Dredging work in Adam’s Bridge area, the controversial part of the project, was stopped from September 2007 in the wake of an interim stay granted by the Supreme Court.
Since July 2009, all work has been stopped at the project site, pending a final decision on an alternative alignment. At least two experts said the alternative was not “economically and ecologically feasible”.
The final hearing in the matter has been “withheld indefinitely” by the Supreme Court.
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