Sethusamudram is the sea that divides Tamil Nadu in India from Sri Lanka. It covers the Gulf of Mannar, the Pak Strait, and a group of islands and bays which create the divide between the two countries also known as “Rama Setu” and “Adam’s Bridge”.
The sea which is less than 10 meters deep all across has limestone rock laid mostly on its seabed. Sethusamudra derives its name from two Sanskrit words “sethu” meaning bridge and “samudra” meaning sea. The name “Rama Bridge” or “Ram Setu” for the Adam’s bridge comes from the Hindu epic, Ramayana, which has an episode where Rama built this bridge to cross over to Sri Lanka. The sea was indeed a part of the land bridge that connected Sri Lanka to the Asian continent in ice age.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
SethuSamudram site was also proposed by the Government of India for SethuSamudram Shipping Canal Project. This aims at scouring of a ship channel to connect India and Sri Lanka via the Palk. Thus, ships can directly sail between the two opposite east and west coasts of India through territorial waters and need not cross Sri Lanka. It is estimated that around 780 km of distance and 30 hours of sailing time shall be saved with this project.
The additional distance and time traveled around the Sri Lankan coast is an overhead for ships of Indian Navy and Coast Guard traveling from west of India towards Chennai, Kolkata, Haldia etc. When this project was initially proposed, the Tamil Nadu Government announced the development of 13 minor ports in this area. The major opposition to this project came from the debate from the Hindus who argued that “Ram Setu” is a religious structure sacred to them and must not be tampered with. Criticisms also arose from the transportation expense point of view as it costs less to transport goods via land than taking the sea route between the western and eastern coasts.
Image Source:
hindujagruti.org/news/out/thumbnails/1171876859_ram_bridge.jpg
It is said that the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project will be economically beneficial for coastal regions and districts of Tamil Nadu. It is called as Tamil Nadu’s 150 years dream which will help develop the canals and ports of the state. This would mean an improved maritime security for Tamil Nadu.
According to the proposed project, creation of two channels will be done. One channel spread across the north of Adam’s bridge which comprises of the chain of islets and shallows that link India with Sri Lanka. This will be located to the south east of Pamban Insland. Another channel will pass through the Palk Bay shallows and shall deepen the Palk Straits. The total ship channel length would be 89 kms including both the channels.