Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (lit. 'Setu Ocean Shipping Canal Project') is a proposed project to create a shipping route in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka. This would provide a continuously navigable sea route around the Indian Peninsula. The channel would be dredged in the Sethusamudram sea between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, passing through the limestone shoals of Rama Sethu.
Minister Nitin Gadkari inspecting the Sethusamudram project site by Hovercraft | |
| Company type | Government of India |
|---|---|
| Industry | Canal Project |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
Area served | Tamil Nadu, India |
Key people | Shri A. Subbiah, IAS chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust & Chairman and managing director, Sethusamudram Corporation Limited |
The project involves digging a 44.9-nautical-mile (51.7 mi; 83.2 km) long deepwater channel linking the shallow Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar. Conceived in 1860 by Alfred Dundas Taylor, it received approval of the Indian government in 2005.
The proposed route through the shoals of Ram Setu is opposed by some groups on religious, environmental and economical grounds. Five alternative routes were considered that avoid damage to the shoals. The most recent plan is to dig the channel roughly in the middle of the straits to provide the shortest course and the course requiring least maintenance. This plan avoids the demolition of Ram Setu.