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By PK.Balachandran
Most Sri Lankans, whether Sinhala or Tamil, flay India's plan to dig a
shipping canal through the Palk Strait. But some leading Tamil academics
support the project on the grounds that it will benefit Sri Lanka as well as
India.
They point out that the project will specially help the economic development
of the impoverished and war-devastated Sri Lankan North, which is
predominantly Tamil.
The first to speak out in Sri Lanka, in defense of the controversial project,
was Prof.Pathmanathan of Peradeniya University. And now comes Prof. P.
Balasundarampillai, leading geographer and former Vice Chancellor of the
University of Jaffna.
In an interview to Hindustan Times in Colombo on Monday, Prof.
Balasundarampillai said that the ship canal would bring business not only to
the many small ports on the Tamil Nadu coastline, but also to the currently
languishing northern Sri Lankan ports of Mannar, Thalaimannar,
Kankensanthurai (KKS), and Point Pedro.
He shot down the argument that Colombo port would suffer as a result of the
canal. He said that the kind of shipping now coming to Colombo would not be
using the canal, at least in the near future. Colombo receives ships of 65,000
dwt capacity (the Panamax class carriers or mother ships), but the canal will
not be able to take ships larger than 20,000 dwt, unless it is deepened
considerably more than envisaged so far.
Ships coming from the Suez Canal and heading for Australia and the Far
East would not be using the Sethusamudram canal at all, but would either
continue to touch Colombo or go to the new port of Humbantota.The only
ships from the West that will be using the canal are the ones which have to
call on ports on the eastern Indian coast, or in Bangladesh.
It will take a long time for the canal to be made deep enough to take the
mother ships. Colombo port will thus continue to receive all such ships, and
trans-shipment, which constitutes 70% of Colombo's business, will continue to
be brisk here.
Colombo has reached limit of expansion
Colombo's problem is not lack of business, but overcrowding, and the
solution for this lies in developing other ports in the island, such as
Humbantota and Trincomalee, and not in opposing the Sethusamudram
project, Prof.Balasundarampillai says.
Humbantota and Trincomalee are ideal for receiving the kind of big ocean
going vessels and containers now calling at Colombo. Trincomalee is one of
the finest natural harbours in the world. Humbantota is on the main East-
West shipping route. Trincomalee will get big business because Sri Lanka's
trade with East Asia and the Far East is increasing. Tuticorin, and other
Indian ports served by the canal, are not as well situated as these Sri Lankan
ports.
In fact, the government fears that the crunch as regards Colombo will come in
2008 when over crowding will have become unbearable. The port has no
room to expand, Prof.Balasundarampillai points out. Government therefore
thinks that it is very important to start work on the Humbantota harbour by
2006. A Chinese company has already been asked to do the project.
The Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC), in collaboration with the Ceylon
Petroleum Corporation (CPC), is developing Trincomalee as a major
bunkering port using the refurbished giant oil tanks at China Bay. There are
99 of them, but only 15 are currently in use. The scope for expansion is
therefore enormous. The infrastructure in Trincomalee has to be developed.
But given its economic and strategic importance, there will be no dearth of
international parties wanting to participate in projects there.
No adverse impact on environment
Prof.Balasundarampillai says that the environmental aspects of the project
have been looked into in-depth through over 30 studies. He himself has seen
in the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, and another institute in
Taramani, amazing facilities for computer simulation of ocean conditions.
The Indian government is satisfied that the project is environmentally safe.
Scientifically worked out safeguards, as per national and international norms,
have been included to make it an environment-friendly project, the Lankan
geographer notes.
Taking the environmental issues one by one, he says that there is no truth in
the allegation that the coast of Jaffna will be eroded, and that hundreds of
islets off the coast will be sunk, and marine life will be washed away by waters
rushing into the Palk Strait and Palk Bay from the Bay of Bengal and the
Indian Ocean, as a result of the digging of the canal.
According to Prof.Balasundarampillai, the major currents in the seas off the
West and East coasts of India, and South Sri Lanka, are too far away from
the canal area to affect water flows in it. Because of this, the depth of the
canal will continue to be shallow and the water flow, low, he says.
"At any rate, for ships to move, the currents and the water flow will have to be
regulated and this will be done by the design of the canal," he points out.
According to him, much of the criticism of the project is due to ignorance of
new and advanced canal building and dredging technology now available in
the world. This is the not the first time in the world that a ship canal will be
dug he points out. There are ship canals in Europe and in Japan too. A whole
tunnel, linking England and France, has been dug, and the English Channel
is none the worse for it.
Dredging of the sea is necessary for building and maintaining harbours and
this is constantly done with no harm being done to the adjacent coastline.
There is off-shore oil rigging all over the world. And India has ample
experience of it through digging in Bombay High.
"Sometimes the wells go up to 300 to 400 metres deep into the sea off the
coast," the geographer points out.
The North Sea is full of oil rigs and there has been no adverse impact of
these on the Scandinavian countries or Great Britain, he says.
As for the disposal of the dredged material/waste, there are tried and tested
ways and means to dispose them off. The government of India has assured
that the Gulf of Mannar biosphere will be unaffected by the canal.
There are indeed fears about pollution and oil slicks due to increased
shipping in the narrow sea. But Prof.Balasundarampillai says that effective
pollution control measures exist, and that these have been factored into the
project. Apart from economic and technical feasibilities, any project now will
have to get clearance from pollution control agencies. India has very strong
and vocal environment protection groups and government is not unaware of
the trouble that these can create. There are international laws to be adhered
to also.
Fisheries will not be affected
The geographer debunks objections based on the fear that fishing will be
adversely affected by the increased shipping in the narrow sea. He points out
that increased shipping has never affected fishing even in the busiest seas in
the world like the English Channel and the North Sea. There has been no
adverse impact on either the environment or fishing, by digging a tunnel
linking the UK and France under the English channel, Prof.
Balasundarampillai says.
The ships coming to the canal will be moving in single file, one up and the
other down. They will not be dispersed. Thus, they will not be a hindrance to
the movement of fishing boats in the area, he says.
Moreover, the influx of fresh water from the India Ocean and the Bay of
Bengal due to the digging of the canal, will actually bring in more fish and
newer varieties of fish into the Palk Strait, Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar
area.
"Fishing in Sri Lanka is adversely affected by bad fishing practices and other
causes. In the Sri Lankan north, fishing is affected by massive poaching by
Indian fishermen and years of disruption and government restrictions
because of the war. The Sethusamudram project, as such, will not have an
adverse impact on Sri Lankan fisheries," Prof. Balasundarampillai argues.
Why India is pursuing the project now?
Tracing the 145 year history of the Sethusamudram canal idea, the
geographer says that there are three reasons why the project seems to be
seeing the light of day now, at long last:
(1) the tremendous economic development which India is now undergoing
has made the project affordable;
(2) the increasing awareness in India of its security requirements and its bid
to be a regional power with a blue water navy;
(3) the shrill demand from Tamil Nadu that the long delayed project be
started forthwith.
"India is now able to afford the project which is to cost Rupees (Indian)
2,427.4 crores or US$ 400 million. It is going to fund it from its own
resources," the Jaffna-based don points out.
India is also wanting to be a regional power with sway over the Arabian Sea,
Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. The canal will help its ships and
submarines go from coast to coast without circumventing Sri Lanka and thus
save 254 to 424 nautical miles in distance, and 21 to 36 hours of sailing time.
Indian coastal trade will get a boost, even as Indian naval ships will be able to
patrol the long peninsular coastline more effectively. Criminal and other
undesirable activities in the Palk Strait can be monitored and checked better
if it is made navigable.
Then there is the domestic political compulsion to carry out the project. Two
of the leading members of the ruling coalition in New Delhi at this point of
time, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by the veteran Tamil leader
M.Karunanidhi, and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)
led by the firebrand Tamil nationalist Vaiko, have been pushing hard for the
project at the Central government level. They are in positions of power
thanks to coalition politics.
The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil
Nadu, is scared that the DMK and the MDMK is going to walk away with prizes
for establishing the project. And according to the DMK, the AIADMK
government is putting spokes in the wheel. But even the AIADMK cannot stall
the project, given the fact that it is an emotive issue in the state.
The Congress, which is the leader of the coalition in the centre, is also
interested. Congressman and Finance Minister P.Chidambaram, who
represents Sivaganga constituency in south Tamil Nadu, is very keen that the
southern districts of his state make rapid strides in economic development.
Chidambaram sees the development of ports on the south Tamil Nadu
coastline as a necessary pre-requisite for the development of the hinterland.
As he himself told parliament, the Sethusamudram project is a "long
cherished dream" of the people of Tamil Nadu.
The thickly populated but backward areas of Ramanathapuram, Dindigul,
Sivakasi, Pudukkottai, Thirunelveli, and Kanyakumari, besides Tuticorin, will
see economic development with the development of ports in the area and the
arrival of sea borne business opportunities.
Sri Lanka should see project positively
Prof.Balasundarampillai says that Sri Lanka would do well by taking
advantage of the Sethusamudram canal and developing the northern and
north western ports.Simultaneously, it should develop Trincomalee and Oluvil
in the East, and Humbantota in the south.
It is India which is going to spend the money and develop the Palk Strait as a
sea lane. Sri Lanka should take advantage of this fully, and develop its own
ports in the region to share the additional business which will flow into the
region.
Kankesanthurai will join ports servicing South Asia, which has a population of
1.5 billion, if the Sri Lankan government seizes the opportunity thrown up by
the Sethusamudram project and develops it into a major port, and a trading
and industrial centre.
And if channels from the canal to the northern Sri Lankan ports like
Thalaimannar and Kankesanthurai are opened, Sri Lankan coastal shipping
will also benefit. Sea freighting is any day cheaper that using other modes of
transport. This holds good for India and Sri Lanka, Prof.Balasundarampillai
says.
He points out that India is not infringing Sri Lanka’s rights in any way by
digging the canal, because the canal is entirely in Indian waters. Since the
canal is only 300 metres wide, ships will have to go single file and therefore
there is no chance of encroachment into Sri Lankan waters.
"Sri Lanka should see the project positively and it should be pro-active in
making use of it for its own benefit," he urges. Perhaps, as the Leader of the
Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe put it, Sri Lanka should see the
Sethusamudram project as an "opportunity’ and not as a "threat".
COURTESY: HINDUSTAN TIMES