Ram’s bridge a difficult one to cross for Indian maritime industry

Ram’s bridge a difficult one to cross for Indian maritime industry Sometimes religion gets in the way of shipping.
   Just ask officials in India, where a project to dredge a channel through the strait that separates southern India and Sri Lanka has long been delayed by concerns that the channel would destroy an ancient underwater seabridge purported in Hindu mythology to have been commissioned by Rama, 'an invincible figure who is supposed to be an incarnation of the supreme.'
   The project's aim is simple: to allow ships departing from India's east coast ports — namely Chennai, Ennore, Vishakapatnam, Paradeep, Haldia and Kolkata — to reach ports on India's West Coast without having to navigate around Sri Lanka, which adds 20 to 36 hours of sailing time and extra cost to each trip.
   Adam's Bridge, or Rama Setu in Hindi, is made of a series of shoals that some have speculated is, indeed, manmade. In any case, it's too shallow to allow for heavy vessels to pass through.
   The channel has been a long time coming. A British mariner first conceived of the channel in 1860 and various designs were discussed over the next 60 years, but the Indian government first officially proposed the project in 1955.
   Since then, it has mostly been stalled for two reasons: concerns of environmental groups that breaking up the underwater seabridge could affect marine life and make the nearby coastline more susceptible to heavy storms or tsunamis; and calls from faithful Hindus that destruction of the bridge would be an affront to them.
   They say that the bridge was built by the faithful followers of Lord Ram some 1.7 million years ago. Experts say the underwater bridge was formed naturally and was not constructed by man.
   The religious battle has recently started anew in India's parliament, with the centrist government currently in power accidentally suggesting that the story of Adam's Bridge — and thus the characters described in a revered Hindu epic — were not real in defending construction of the channel. Since then, the party has been backtracking, keen not to offend the nation's Hindus by suggesting that the Rama Setu is not real. The BJP, India's hardline Hindu political party, is clearly in favor of banning the channel project and has been needling the party in power over the issue.
   There's no official timetable for when, or if, the channel will be dredged.