The Government of India told the Supreme Court that it was looking at declaring the Ram Sethu a national heritage monument.
- The court asked the Centre to take a decision on the issue and granted petitioner the liberty to move before it again if he is dissatisfied and disposed of his interim application on the issue.
About Ram Setu
- Ram Setu, also known as Adam’s bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island or Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
- Subramanian Swamy had raised the issue of declaring Ram Setu as a national monument in his PIL against the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel project, initiated by the UPA-I government.
- Billed as India’s Suez Canal, the 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.
- Shipping companies would save on bunker (ship fuel) while India’s exporters-importers would reduce maritime transportation costs.
- 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.
- The matter had reached the apex court, which in 2007 had stayed the work for the project on the Ram Setu.
- The Centre had later said that it considered the “socio-economic disadvantages” of the project and was willing to explore another route to the shipping channel project without damaging the Ram Setu.
