CHENNAI: The Coastal Action Network, a state wide forum involved in the protection of livelihoods, homeland, ecology and fisheries of the fishing people and other coastal poor, on Friday demanded that the Modi Government abandon the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal project (SSCP).
Minister for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan had told the Lok Sabha last month that the government was exploring the possibility of an alternative route for the project through Pamban pass without affecting the Ram Sethu or Adam’s bridge. The Supreme Court had in 2007 directed suspension of work on the project and instructed the then UPA government to undertake a study.
Addressing a press conference here, Ossie Fernandes, co-convener of the Network, said that during the public hearing called by the TNSPCB, fishing people and environmentalists had pointed out that only a rapid and not a comprehensive Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) had been conducted on the project.