The central government, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, has said that it will not cause any damage to the Ram Setu bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka and it will discover an alternative route for the Setusamudram trade route between the two countries.
An affidavit submitted by the Ministry of Shipping in this regard informed the court that “the government of India intends to discover an alternative to the earlier alignment of the Setusamudram Ship Channel project without affecting/damaging the Adam’s Bridge or Ram Setu in the interest of the nation.”
The Ram Setu, or Adam’s Bridge as it is also known, is a continuous stretch of stone shoals that connect south India’s Rameshwaram town to Mannar Island near Sri Lanka’s northern tip. Millions of Hindus believe that this bridge was built by Lord Ram and his followers, and it also finds mention in the epic Ramayana.
The bridge had fallen into a raging controversy a few years ago after the government had decided to drill into parts of it for constructing an 83 km-long deep water channel to be used to marine trading between India and Sri Lanka. Religious leaders, environmental activists and even political leaders, like BJP’s Subramanian Swamy, had opposed the government’s decision. Swamy had even approached the apex court to seek relief via a PIL for which this affidavit was filed.
The Centre had been granted time by the court in November last year to decide whether it wishes to damage the Setu or find an alternative route. BJP leaders rejoiced the Centre’s decision to keep the bridge untouched as this was one of the party’s poll promises during 2014’s general elections.