In the latest development to the Ram Setu case, the Centre informed the supreme court that it’s under deliberation on the issue of whether it shall be declared a national heritage monument.
The centre also stated that if the petitioner, Rajya Sabha Member Subramanium Swamy, wishes to submit a communication to the govt, he may do so.
This comes even as prolonged litigation initiated by former Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy to declare the Ram Setu a national heritage monument lies ending in the apex court.
Swamy had raised the issue of declaring Ram Setu as a national monument in his PIL plea against the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel project, initiated by the UPA government. The Supreme court stayed however the work for the project on the Ram Setu in 2007.
The Centre later said it considered the “socio-economic disadvantages” of the project and was willing to explore another route to the shipping channel project without damaging the Ram Setu but still the hearing on the matter was adjourned repeatedly because the Union government has not filed an affidavit on Swamy’s plea.
In the last hearing on November 10, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud asked the government why it was “dragging its feet” even for filing an affidavit to which the government in power had replied that the affidavit was ready but was waiting for the approval of the Ministry concerned.
The issue was also raised in a recent parliament session where Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh took up the cause to put forth his point of view.
“The history dates back more than 18,000 years and if you go by history, that bridge was about 56 km long. Yes, to some extent, through space technology we have been able to discover pieces and islands, some kind of limestone shoals, which of course, can’t be accurately said to be remnants or parts of a bridge,” Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said in the Rajya Sabha recently.
Ram Setu, also known as Adam’s bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island or Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
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