Rajive Kumar, Secretary, Union Ministry of Shipping, inspected the Danushkodi sea area in connection with the implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP).
Accompanied by Thoothukudi Port Trust Chairman S. Anantha Chandra Bose, who is the Chairman of the Sethusamudram Shipping Corporation (SSC), Mr. Kumar went up to the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) in the Gulf of Mannar region in the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Hovercraft on Wednesday.
“The basic purpose of the visit is to see the whole area, assess the ground situation, and the developments that have taken place. Basically, this is a familiarisation trip,” Mr Kumar said in a brief interaction with reporters after the inspection.
He would not go into the details and discuss about alternative alignments to implement SSCP as the matter was before the Supreme Court, he said. “Till there is some other direction from the honourable court, the status remains the same,” he said.
However, sources said that Mr. Kumar studied the possibility of implementing the project in alternative alignments, especially through the Pamban canal without disturbing the Ram Sethu.
To a question, Mr. Kumar said the visit had nothing to do with the proposed road bridge between Danushkodi and Talaimannar. “This is the work done by the Road Transport secretary,” he said.
Mr. Kumar was accompanied by K. Thangaraja, Sethusamudram Shipping Corporation and Marine Surveyor, and R. Seshadri, Corporation Superintending Engineer.
The Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) Limited, the engineering consultancy company, had conducted a feasibility study on the implementation of the Sethu project through the Pamban channel. It had suggested a new rail bridge, parallel to the existing bridge at a cost of Rs. 600 crore.
