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Sethusamudram Project dubbed an environmental disaster

     London: Environmentalists have said that the Sethusamudram Project billed as India's Suez Canal is an ecological disaster and will have far-reaching implications for the region's fragile ecosystem. The project, unlike the Suez or Panama Canal Project involves dredging in the shallow waters along the 18 mile long chain of sand shoals that forms a land bridge between India and Sri Lanka. Both the Suez and Panama Canal involved carving through solid land, and dredging on the other hand will disturb the underwater sediment. The finished canal 167 kilometres long and 300 metre wide will cost something to the tune of 300 million pounds and cut navigation time by 30 hours, but as environmentalists say, it is too high a price, given the environmental damage it will leave behind. The project will destroy precious coral reefs, and starve the endangered dugong, or sea cow. Local fishermen too have protested against the project as it will destroy fish stocks, reports The Independent.

    "This dredging will disturb the large amount of underwater sediment. It will wreck coral reefs and affect the nearby Gulf of Mannar marine reserve, home to more than 3,600 species," said Sanjeev Gopal of Greenpeace. He said that the fact that the project involved dredging, unlike a canal work, meant that the amount of sediment will keep on accumulating and need constant de-silting. "Unlike a land canal, work on Sethusamudram will never stop. Underwater silting means the canal will have to be constantly dredged to keep it open. This will spread the sediment far and wide. It will eventually smother the coral reef systems, and if they are smothered the reefs will collapse," Gopal added. "The Gulf of Mannar is renowned for its critically endangered dugongs, and they too will be affected by Sethusamudram. The sediment will make the water cloudy and prevent sunlight getting through. Sunlight is essential to the sea grass which the dugongs feed off," he added. He further said that Sethusamudram is not only an environmental disaster, but a white elephant as well. "When you talk about Panama and Suez, you're talking about saving 18 to 22 days of sailing. Sethusamudram will save one and a half days at best. Once you add in the cost of pilotage, a lot of commercial ships aren't going to use it," he added.