SC agrees to hear a petition to designate 'Ram Sethu' as a national heritage monument

• Image Credit: Internet

• Aug 4, 2022 | Kabir Chakraborty

Ram Sethu, also known as Adam's Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals that connects Pamban Island off Tamil Nadu's south-eastern coast to Mannar Island off Sri Lanka's northwestern coast.

Digital Desk: The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would
hear BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's petition requesting that the Ram Sethu be
designated as a national heritage monument by the Centre.

The bench of Chief Justice N. V. Ramana, Justices Krishna Murari and
Hima Kohli, who agreed to hear the petition on July 26, said it couldn't because
one of the judges was ill.

The CJI told Mr. Swamy, "We will list it."

Mr. Swamy previously mentioned the case for urgent listing on July 13.

Ram Sethu, also known as Adam's Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals
that connects Pamban Island off Tamil Nadu's south-eastern coast to Mannar
Island off Sri Lanka's northwestern coast.

The BJP leader claimed that he had already won the first round of litigation,
in which the Centre acknowledged the existence of Ram Sethu.

He claimed that the Union minister in question convened a meeting to
discuss his request in 2017, but that nothing came of it.

In his PIL opposing the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel
project, the BJP leader raised the issue of declaring the Ram Sethu a national
monument.

The case reached the Supreme Court, which halted work on the Ram Sethu
project in 2007.

The Centre later stated that it had considered the project's
"socioeconomic disadvantages" and was willing to explore another
route to the shipping channel project that would not harm the Ram Sethu.

"That the Government of India intends to explore an alternative to
the earlier alignment of the Skeletomuscular Ship Channel project in the
interest of the nation without affecting/damaging the Adam's Bridge/Ram
Sethu," the affidavit filed by the ministry stated.

The court then ordered the government to submit a new affidavit.

Some political parties, environmentalists, and Hindu religious groups
have voiced opposition to the Sethusamudram shipping channel project. The
project called for extensive dredging and the removal of limestone shoals to
create an 83-kilometer water channel connecting Mannar and Palk Strait.

The Supreme Court granted the Centre six weeks to clarify its position
on the Ram Sethu case on November 13, 2019. It also gave Swamy the right to go
to court if the Centre's response was not filed.