Suspend shipping project linking India, Sri Lanka: BJP
Mar 31, 2007 - 8:31:58 PM
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Joshi was peeved when asked if the BJP was trying to raise religious passion, as no one from Kerala opposed the project despite it was inaugurated two years ago.
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By IANS,
[RxPG] Thiruvananthapuram, March 31 - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party - leader and former union minister Murli Manohar Joshi has demanded that the work on a shipping project linking India and Sri Lanka be suspended with immediate effect.
'I had visited places near the project site and have found out that the if the present alignment of making a channel takes place it would destroy a sacred monument, Setu Mandir, which is revered by millions of people from all religions. Ram Setu or Adam's Bridge finds mention in Hindu epic Ramayana and is considered as the oldest man made bridge existing anywhere in the world,' Joshi said while speaking to reporters here Saturday.
'We are not against the project but all we request is the present alignment be changed so as to respect the religious sentiments of the people.
Adam's Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals that once linked Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu with Mannar in Sri Lanka's northwest, faces possible destruction when the ambitious Sethusamudram canal project comes up to create a navigable waterway in the narrow sea dividing the two countries.
'For Kerala this is going to be imminent danger as tsunami expert S. Muruthy said that deepening the canal might provide a direct route for the tsunami and the entire southern coastal districts of Kerala could be destroyed,' said Joshi.
The project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi July 2, 2005.
Joshi was peeved when asked if the BJP was trying to raise religious passion, as no one from Kerala opposed the project despite it was inaugurated two years ago.
'The need of the hour is to suspend the work and see that a high level discussion is held with leading experts. A new alignment needs to be worked out,' he added.
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