My take on the Setu Canal

There is a huge outcry over the Tamilnadu Government's proposal to go ahead with the Setu Canal project from various political parties and religious leaders raising the issue of Rama's bridge which is supposed to exist over there. I'm not going to comment on the presence of it or try defending Mr. Karunanithi's remarks about Lord Rama… What I think is that we should solely address this issue based on the benefits in the economy of India as well as the ecological/environmental effects that might arise by building this.

The proposed project would bring more revenue for the shipping industry in India and particularly for Tamilnadu, with the ports Tuticorin, Nagapattinam and Rameshwaram benefiting a lot and it also reduces the amount of fuel spent and also the amount of time one could save.

"Assuming that international vessels would prefer to go through this canal as against the Colombo port route, an estimated 2,000 vessels or more may use the canal annually. In the 19th year, cumulative annual earnings from the project are expected to be over Rs 5,000 crore." – Wikipedia

There’s always other side of this story…Based on the ecological aftereffects…
“Environmentalists are concerned as the Gulf of Mannar Marine Reserve is one of India's most biologically diverse coastal regions. Over 3,600 species of plants and animals are found here. The sea grass beds along the coast are among the largest remaining feeding grounds for the globally endangered dugong. Additionally five species of marine turtles, innumerable fish, mollusks and crustaceans also feed there. Gulf of Mannar is the first Marine Biosphere Reserve not only in India but also in South and South East Asia. The reserve covers 10,500 km² and has 21 islands with continuous stretches of coral reef. The coral reefs which surround the islands in the area are highly productive and are often referred to as "underwater tropical rain forest" and are a treasure house for marine ornamental fishes. The establishment of the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere reserve has enhanced India's position as an environmentally responsible country in the comity of nations.” – Wikipedia

But for those who just look at this based on the political or religious reasons need not look behind our neighbors(China) who are building the largest dam in the world. The Three Gorges. The known estimated destruction caused by this project alone would run into billions… and the numbers of temples that would be destroyed/submerged might run into thousands. - CommonDreams

My view is that if it’s going to be a favorable for India then we should go for it... We should consider the economic/ecological/environment factors and not those of religion…