Review of Environmental and Economic Aspects of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP)

SSCP

The proposed Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) canal between India and Sri Lanka across the Adam’s Bridge connecting the Arabian Sea with the Bay of Bengal has the potential to have very significant consequences on this globally significant marine biodiversity area. The construction and maintenance of the canal will involve a range of coastal and marine engineering activities, and when completed will be the largest such undertaking of its kind for India. In a broad sense, this review aimed at understanding how project planning considered the biological diversity of the region and whether the project’s stated benefits outweighed its potential impacts on the region.

This review involved an analysis of all the SSCP documents and relevant literature to arrive at a multi-pronged assessment of the implications of the SSCP particularly its implications for the biodiversity of Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay regions. The literature reviewed includes published articles and papers in peer reviewed journals, and expert reports pertaining to the economic, ecological and social impacts of the project. Other relevant background literature pertaining to the project area and specifically, literature pertaining to dredging and its implications for sea grasses and coral reefs were also examined.

The outreach and advocacy had two strategies- the first was to focus and bring forward the legal and economic aspects as well as the main environmental issues of the project in simple and non-technical language. The second was to disseminate the findings through the media and published papers. This included popular articles in newspapers and magazines based on findings of the review.  We also engaged with journalists to produce cover stories featuring findings of the review.

Publications

  1. Rodriguez, S., J. John, R. Arthur, K. Shanker, A. Sridhar. 2007. Review of Environmental and Economic Aspects of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP). pp 76. 
  2. Rodriguez, S., J. John, R. Arthur, K. Shanker, A. Sridhar. 2007. Review of the Sethusamduram Ship Canal Project – Mitigating and monitoring measures as a management strategy for the Gulf of Mannar Draft submitted to GoMBRT, Ramanathapuram. pp 64.
  3. John, J. 2007. Sethusamudram Canal: An Expensive Voyage, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.  42 No. 29.
  4. Rodriguez, S. 2007. Review of the Environmental Impacts of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project, Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter No 6. July 2007. Bangalore.
  5. Rodriguez, S. A Mockery of Science, Conservation and Environmental Laws (Op-ed piece). The Hindu. May 9, 2008.
  6. Rodriguez, S. Road To Perdition. Tehelka Magazine. Vol 5, Issue 8. March 1, 2008.
  7. John, J. and Rodriguez, S. Sethusamudram Project: It's all a matter of faith.  The Economic Times. October 9, 2007.
  8. Rodriguez, S. and John, J.  Sethusamudram Ship Canal: A Economic Non-sense and Ecological Disaster. Science Park. 2(2). November, 2007.
  9. John, J. 2007. SSCP inspires debate on what is public purpose. The Economic Times.  February 08, 2007.
  10. John, J. 2007. Sethusamudram project is unviable. Down to Earth.  Vol. 16 No. 2.

Media outreach

  1. NDTV, Big Fight on Sethusamudram project
  2. CNN-IBN, 2007. In the heart of Ram Setu- Political Nightmares, http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/49199/30-mins-in-the-heart-of-ram-setu--political-nightmares.html, 23rd September 2007
  3. CNN-IBN, 2007.  Sethusamudram project -Security Concerns - Environmental Issue,  http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/49195/sethusamudram-project--security-concerns--environmental-issue.html,  23rd September 2007
  4. CNN-IBN, 2007. Can Sethusamudram project afford to ignore marine life?, http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/49193/can-sethusamudram-project-afford-to-ignore-marine-life.html,  23rd September 2007
  5. Prachi Bhuchar, NDTV,  Sethusamudram project mired in controversy, http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx?id=15222,  15th July 2007             
  6. Aiyar,  Saminathan S Anklesaria. 2007. 150-year dream for 150-year old ships, Times of India, 24th September 2007
  7. Hazra, Indrajit. 2007. Ram Setu: Good politics, bad economics, Hindustan Times, 18th September 007

People and collaborators

Sudarshan Rodriguez, Aarthi Sridhar, Kartik Shanker, Rohan Arthur, Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) and Jacob John, Independent Consultant and Economist