Sethu project set to sail, dredging next month

NEW DELHI: The Central Government-owned Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) will begin dredging operations in the Palk Straits on the day following the laying of the foundation for the Rs.2427.40 crore Sethu Samudhram Ship Canal Project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the presence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and DMK president M Karunanidhi.

The ceremony is scheduled for the third week of June, depending on the date cleared by the PMO.

The operations will be carried out simultaneously in the Palk Straits, Adam's Bridge and the Gulf of Mannar, with the dredged residue being dumped in the sea itself, at points having a depth of over 25 metres. Dumping points will be 25-30 km away from Adam's Bridge near Dhanushkodi. A DCI ship will be made available immediately for the work.

Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu, the key man behind the country's dream project, told this website’s newspaper that initially the Ministry had wanted to use the dredged materials as landfill near Dhanushkodi, off Rameswaram, to reclaim the land which had been devastated by a cyclone. But this proposal did not get a positive response from the State Government, with even the Environment Ministry objecting.

In fact, this was one of the 22 conditions imposed while clearing the project. “But in this way we will be saving about Rs.100 crore by deciding to dump the materials in the deep sea,” Baalu said.

According to estimates, the dredging operation will be conducted in a total of 83 million cubic metres area of the sea of which the DCI will take care of 13 million cubic metres. The Shipping Ministry will ensure that regular fishing activity and ship movement to the nearby Tuticorin Port are not affected during the operations.

“The project will provide a lot of job opportunities as about 11 persons will be required to dredge one tonne of material from the deep sea,” says Baalu.

The objective of the 157-km long project is to deepen the sea between India and Sri Lanka to a depth up to 12 metres so as to allow the sailing of vessels up to 10 metres deep. Presently the Gulf of Mannar is shallow and in some places the depth is just 3 metres, he points out.

Besides the DCI, three other agencies will be involved in the works. The Sethu Samudhram Corporation Limited, the special purpose vehicle created for the project, will call for international tenders for the dredging.

The Minister will be visiting the project site on June 4 and 5 to get first-hand details of the project.

Experts from the Suez Canal and Panama Canal authorities will visit the project site soon, says Baalu. While the Suez experts will provide expertise on how to work out costs for the sailing of ships in the canal and safety measures to be adopted by the vessels while cruising the canal, the Panama canal authorities would train personnel involved in the dredging works on the latest techniques.