Affidavit approved, UPA to go ahead with Setu project

SETU ISSUE: UPA is ready to consider an alternate alignment that would not affect the structure.

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New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has approved a new affidavit on Ram Setu. The Government is seeking to lift the stay on the construction of the controversial project off the Tamil Nadu coastline.

The affidavit will be filed in Supreme Court on March 5. Sources have told CNN-IBN that the Government wants the project to go ahead, something which the DMK — a key ally of the Government — has been demanding for some time now.

However, the UPA has been more cautious this time around. It says there is no available scientific evidence to prove that Ram Setu is a man-made structure, but adds that the Archaeological Survey of India doesn't have the expertise to either support to contradict this conclusion.

The affidavit also says that the legend of Lord Ram in literature, philosophy and religious sentiment occupies a significant place in the psyche of a large segment of Indian society.

Significantly, the Government is also ready to consider an alternate alignment that would not affect the structure. The Government wants work on the project to start in November should the Supreme Court give its go ahead.

The views of the Culture Ministry and the Archaeological Survey of India on the historical and cultural aspects of the case also have been taken note of.

In the first affidavit which was filed by the centre on the sethusamundram project (and later withdrawn) the Centre had made the following controversial statements:

• Ram Setu is not a manmade structure, but a natural formation made up of shoals

• Valmiki's Ramayan and Ramcharitmanas are mythological texts and they cannot be reiled upon

• Ram Setu is at best a case of disputed mythology and not a matter of historical importance

Sethusamudram Project

The Sethusamudram Project was originally conceived by a British commander of the Indian Marine, A D Taylor, in 1860. And while he may have been inspired by the Suez Canal at that time, nearly one and a half centuries later, India's decision to revive his abandoned dream project will have very little similarity to the vastly profitable Suez Canal or Panama Canal.