Saturday Sep 13, 2008
INDIA: The controversial Sethusamudram ship channel to link India’s eastern and western coasts to avoid a 785-km detour around Sri Lanka is expected to overshoot its October deadline, as petitions against it are still pending in courts and only 25 per cent of the work has been completed, officials said.

The Indian Rs 242.7 billion ($6 billion) project aims to create a 167-km-long navigable channel to link the Gulf of Mannar with the Bay of Bengal via Adam’s Bridge, Palk Bay and Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka.

“As of now, nearly 25 per cent physical progress has been achieved. Efforts are on to expedite the execution. But meeting the October deadline does not seem possible,” said a senior official in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (S&PI).

The ministry oversees the implementation of major central sector projects related to several fields like atomic energy, power, railways, shipping, roads and highways.

The Sethusamudram project was sanctioned in June 2005. It was the first major shipping infrastructure project Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Government sanctioned after assuming office in April 2004.

The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways is implementing the project with the active participation of Tuticorin Port Trust (TPT).“The delay was inevitable in view of several litigations in the Madras High Court and even the Supreme Court.

Two precious years were lost in riding out all these hurdles,” the official, who requested anonymity, said.

Said a senior official of Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd (SCL): “The dredging is going on at the Palk Bay side. Whether the deadline is met or not depends upon the court’s (Supreme Court) final verdict.”

“It is a good project, and will help the country in furthering trade interests. We will save a lot of time, energy and money once the channel gets operational,” the official said on the phone from Chennai.

Source: Economic Times