Ram Sethu: Conflict between faith, Science

It takes an hour-long boat ride from Dhanushkodi into the Bay of Bengal to reach Ram Sethu, the ground zero for the controversy surrounding the Sethusamudram channel project, a conflict between faith and scientific investigation.Here in the vastness of the sea believers say they can feel the presence of God and maritime engineers the presence of opportunity.As NDTV navigate its way to what the fisher folk call the Naangam Thittu, the fourth of the six islets in Indian waters together called Ram Sethu, NDTV know a single boat ride will not settle the age-old dispute between the religion and reason.The British called this 30-mile chain of limestone shoal, the Adam's Bridge, but ancient Hindu mythology always knew it as the Ram Sethu.And for the faithful this is not mere coral and stone. Holy men they say once walked over these choppy waters.Legend has it that Hanuman built a bridge so that Ram could make his way to Lanka and bring Sita back to safety.For Modern India here's the dilemma. Should these stones be broken down to make way for giant ships? Ram Sethu, a 30 km long sandy bridge presents formidable hindrance for navigation because of the shallow waters around.The idea is to cut across this so that ships could sail through without having to go around SriLanka.


Small donation


The believers say 30 extra hours of sailing time is a small donation at the temple of God, the Ram Sethu must not be destroyed.''It is economic development along the entire coast and it will also provide a great opportunity to the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre to solve the fishermen's issues. Today hundreds of boats are crossing over to the Lankan side,'' said Commodore R S Vasan, Maritime Expert.Lost in the din of the religious battle are the more controversial dimensions of the project. Is it environmentally safe? This fragile coral reef many believe was a natural defence against the 2003 tsunami. Now cranes and bulldozers could swallow hundreds of rare marine species and coral reefs. ''The canal is actually destroying scheduled protected species under the wildlife act 1972. Now corals are schedule 1, which means the same status as a tiger,'' said Sudarshan Rodriguez, Environmantalist.The controversy has split open the religious divide between the North and the South in a state known for its anti-Aryan movement.Ram is not always a hero and there were no protests against the project till the BJP took it up. The Dravidians have rubbished the fuss as an Aryan obsession.''It's a battle between us and those dominant forces who are trying to spread superstition,'' said M Karunanidhi, CM, Tamil Nadu. The only option for the UPA government is to change the alignment of the channel, keeping the Ram Sethu intact.But this will affect the livelihood of lakhs of fishermen in six coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.While the DMK had its way all along, the big question is can the UPA afford to be indifferent to Hindu sentiments just to appease its Dravidian ally.

source : NDTV