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What SCIENTISTS SAY - The Telegraph : May - 5 !
by Pritish Nagaraj on Sep 12, 2007 09:06 PM   Permalink | Hide replies

Ram%u2019s bridge in man-made row

- Scientist find triggers claim that islet chain was built by monkeys---



Chennai, May 7: Government scientists have suggested that an islet chain in the Palk Strait is man-made, triggering claims that it is the remnant of the bridge Ram%u2019s mythological monkey army built to Lanka.



The issue has raised political passions because a Rs 2,427-crore navigation project that will save the country Rs 1,000 crore a year requires the demolition of the ridge.



Adam%u2019s Bridge, a series of sand-dune islets and shallows south-east of Dhanushkodi near Rameshwaram, links India with Talaimannar off the Sri Lankan coast. It has long been held locally to be the bridge Ram built to invade Lanka and rescue Sita, and is called %u201CRamar Setu%u201D.



The Centre%u2019s department of earth sciences has given an %u201Copinion%u201D to the government that the islets are probably a result of human activity.



The department, under the ministry of science and technology, says the sand dunes have a base of coral and sandstone that seem to have been %u201Ctransported%u201D from elsewhere.



Its unpublished report, of which The Telegraph has a copy, says the naturally formed corals in Lakshadweep, the Andamans or the nearby Gulf of Mannar grow vertically from a hard-rock base. But the Adam%u2019s Bridge coral doesn%u2019t grow vertically and appears to %u201Crest%u201D loosely on the seabed.







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  RE:What SCIENTISTS SAY - The Telegraph : May - 5 !
by Pritish Nagaraj on Sep 12, 2007 09:07 PM   Permalink
%u201CThe coral formations hardly occur 1 m to 2.5 m in length and rest on loose marine sands. Most%u2026 seem to be rounded pebbles of corals. These things appear to point that these%u2026 have been transported and placed in these areas,%u201D the department%u2019s note says.



%u201CSince the calcareous sand stones and corals are less dense (and therefore lighter) than the normal hard rock and quite compact, probably these were used by (the) ancients to form a connecting link to Sri Lanka on the higher elevations of the Adam%u2019s Bridge ridge and this is analogous to (a) modern-day causeway.%u201D



The leaked report led to a ruckus in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday. The Opposition, including the BJP, demanded that the ridge be spared and chief minister M. Karunanidhi hit back with accusations of a %u201Cnorth Indian%u201D and %u201Cfundamentalist%u201D plot to derail the project.



The Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project involves dredging the islets to deepen the Palk Strait and thus open a direct channel between India%u2019s west and east coasts. Currently, ships have to make a detour around Sri Lanka.





The 167-km channel, dubbed the %u201CSuez of the East%u201D, will shorten shipping routes by up to 424 nautical miles (780 km) and sailing time by 30 hours, saving fuel. India%u2019s import-export trade will save the Rs 1,000 crore a year it now spends in foreign exchange because of transhipment of cargo outside the country, through Colombo.



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  RE:What SCIENTISTS SAY - The Telegraph : May - 5 !
by Pritish Nagaraj on Sep 12, 2007 09:09 PM   Permalink
The Opposition ADMK, BJP and the Janata Party cited the %u201Cscientific opinion%u201D to buttress their case that the project, for which dredging is under way, should find an alternative route.



%u201CSuddenly, some communal elements have banded together to give this controversy a religious hue, attempting to create a bloodbath here, just as they did by demolishing the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya to build a temple to Ram,%u201D Karunanidhi told the House. %u201CMost of these people opposing the project are north Indian religious fundamentalists.%u201D



ADMK chief Jayalalithaa has threatened to move court to stay the project if Adam%u2019s Bridge is touched. The ridge, which she wants spared in deference to %u201Cpeople%u2019s religious sentiments%u201D, acted as a barrier during the 2004 tsunami, protecting large parts of southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala.



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