Tamil Nadu: 'Sethusamudram Project Should Be Revived', Says Chief Minister MK Stalin

At an event to launch a book written by senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former Union Shipping minister TR Baalu, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the Sethusamudram shipping canal project cutting across the Ram Setu should be revived.

The proposed shipping canal would connect the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait to create a continuously navigable channel around the Indian peninsula. At present due to the shallow depth of the sea in the region, ships have to circumnavigate Sri Lanka.

His statement comes after Union Minister Jitendra Singh said in Parliament that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact structure but there is some kind of an indication, direct or indirect, that those structures have existed, in response to a question regarding the Ram Setu asked by Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma.

Congress media department head Pawan Khera had then said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had admitted in Parliament that there is no proof of the Ram Setu. This was refuted by BJP leaders who said that Khera had misquoted the minister.

Baalu, in his role as the Shipping minister at the centre was the key driving force behind the project during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule.

Also Read: Did Modi Government Deny The Existence Of Rama Setu? That, And Other Myths, Busted Here