Updated on Sunday, March 02, 2008, 00:00 IST

New Delhi, March 02: Hit hard by the flip flop over the 'Ram Setu' controversy, the Centre in its fresh affidavit before the Supreme Court has put more emphasis to counter the environmental concern for pushing the Sethusamudram Project.

The project has not only been opposed on grounds of religious sentiments attached to Ram Setu or Adams Bridge but concerns have been raised about the fragile ecosystem of Gulf of Mannar and susceptibility of the region to disaster in case of a tsunami.

Allaying these fears, the Centre said committee of eminent persons appointed by the Centre on October 5, 2007 looked into the apprehensions and after considering various reports, declared them as "unfounded".

The affidavit said the committee put a stamp of approval on the reports that the Sethusamudram Project will reduce the tsunami wave energy since it is trending north-south direction.

"The committee has further concluded that the Sethusamudram Ship Channel will be helpful to the coastal communities by reducing the wave energy of future tsunamis originating from Sumatra (Indonesia) and Andaman and Nicobar regions," the Centre said.

The affidavit said that the environmental monitoring carried out for the past 25 months at different locations have revealed that "there is no significant influence on physical, chemical and biological parameters due dredging in Palk Strait and Adams Bridge and that these investigations have indicated the normal productivity and bio-diversity in the area." Further the alignment 6, i.e., Ram Setu passes 20 km away from the marine biosphere reserves border and that changes in post tsunami have also been studied by the project authorities.

Bureau Report