Sethusamudram canal will benefit future generations

DMK president M. Karunanidhi Monday said his demand for implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) is for the benefit of the future generations and not for his own publicity.

Leading the party's state-wide protest at Nagapattinam, 320 km from here, Karunanidhi said: "We are demanding the project for the future generations."

Karunanidhi said he or his party cadres would not benefit from the project.

The DMK held the protest demanding that the Tamil Nadu government withdraw its submission to the Supreme Court opposing the project and early implementation of the scheme.

Karunanidhi said former chief minister and DMK founder C.N. Annadurai and the founder of AIADMK M.G. Ramachandran were in favour of the project while the current state government is against it.

According to him, the project would bring economic prosperity to the state.

Various DMK leaders led the agitation in different parts of the state.

The Sethusamudram project envisages dredging of a channel across the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka to allow ships to sail between the east and west coasts of India, instead of circumventing the island nation.

The project hit a road block with petitions filed in the apex court to stop demolition of Ram Sethu/Adam's Bridge in the Palk Strait as Hindus believe it was built by Lord Rama to reach Sri Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from the clutches of demon king Ravana.

The Tamil Nadu government under Jayalalithaa demands the Ram Sethu/Adam's Bridge be called a national monument and contends that its demolition would impact marine ecology in that region.