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        Many of the Union Cabinet Ministers and many of the Public Servants in positions of high authority in the Government of India need public insults in the larger public interest. Many of them behave or conduct themselves so abominably that they cry out for public abuse. Abuse is a form of attention, and a little accommodating attention makes anyone feel human again. But in this backhanded humanity the mere shouting of common profanities will never suffice. Nor, by themselves, will your purple gestures! Fill your lungs, certainly, and clench your fingers, but as The Complete Person you must shoot out that agile turn of phrase, that chosen word, that little touch of Shakespeare in the right. Shakespeare gets the last word. The public men who are responsible for the shoddy evaluation and murky implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) can only be described in the words of Shakespeare: 'horrible villains! Villains of the Earth! Soulless villains !Secret and villainous contrivers! Dissembling villains! Hungry villains! Insolent villains! Smiling, damned villains! Abominable villains! Treacherous villains!' Any one see from this that Shakespeare marshals his robust humility that does not mind admitting human indignity and points out vicious frailties amongst some men with subtlety and power!

Dr Tad S Murthy

I am of the view that the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) is a monument of fraud and national infamy. The Office of the Prime Minister, The Union Ministry of Shipping and Transport, The Tuticorn Port Trust have collectively bungled in a calculated manner in according sanction to this Project which in my view will only lead to disastrous consequences.         The SSCP involves cutting of a ship channel to connect Gulf of Mannar and Bay of Bengal so that most of the ships moving between east and west coasts of India can have navigable sea route around the peninsula within India's territorial waters, without circumventing Sri Lanka. But many responsible Naval officials say that even after the completion of the project, the depth of the channel between the two nations will only be 12 metre and big vessels like very large crude carriers (VLCCs) won't be able to pass through the channel.

         'Only medium-size or empty vessels will be able to pass through it'. Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd has been constituted for the implementation of the project. Once the project is completed, it is expected that the sailing time and distance for ships between East and West coast would be considerably reduced In 2002, Tuticorin Port Trust appointed NEERI as consultants for carrying out Rapid & Comprehensive Environment Impact Assessment Studies along with assessing Techno-economic viability of the project. The objective of the study was to obtain Environmental Approvals from the concerned local, state, and central government authorities. The terms of Reference issued by TPT to NEERI comprised of two sections viz. Techno-economic viability & other related to Environment Impact Assessment.

        In the latter half of 2002, NEERI presented a report on the status of the marine environment which was established by drawing on the data collected during the IEE in 1998. The data presented for the Marine Environment covered the Physico-chemical and biological status. The assessment covered the marine water and sediment. The analysis given for the various marine environmental components was laudable and confirmed the biodiversity richness of the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay.

        NEERI completed its work long before South India was struck by tsunami in December 2004. All the Geologists, Earth Scientists, Oceanographers, Marine Biologists and other Ocean Scientists are categorically of the view that the marine environment in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar was radically altered and transformed after the tsunami. The evaluation report prepared by NEERI in the light of field data collected or observed before the tsunami in December 2004, cannot form the correct basis for according final sanction for the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP).

        What is interesting to note is that sixteen (16) detailed queries were raised by PMO (Prime Minister's Office) on 8 March 2005 on various aspects relating to the environment impact, viability, dredging and other repercussions following tsunami in December 2004. These queries were sent to the Office of the Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust on March 8 2005. The Tuticorin Port Trust, perhaps sent its detailed reply to the PMOs Office only on 30 June, 2005 (this is the date on which the information was posted on the government website by Tuticorin Port Trust.)

        The People of India in general and the people living in the costal areas of Southern Tamilnadu and more particularly the fishermen, have a fundamental right to raise the following public issues before the Government of India:

        I. Why did the PMOs Office refer the matter only to the Office of the Chairman of Tuticorin Port Trust and not to Government of India agencies like NEERI and several others for further detailed study, analysis and report? Was not the PMOs Office aware of the unprecedented damage caused by the tsunami disaster in South India in December 2004? It is strange that Tuticorin Port Trust was asked to respond to PMO's queries. The correct agency should have been NEERI under the agreement entered into between Govt. of India and NEERI.

        2. Did the Office of the Chairman of the Tutcorin Port Trust refer the matter to the NEERI for its detailed analysis and comments in the light of the new environment and field situation created by the tsunami in December 2004? There is no indication if NEERI was asked to review its 2004 environmental impact analysis taking note of the post- tsunami field situation in December 2004.

        3. The Office of the Chairman Of the Tuticorin Port Trust sent their final reply to the PMOs Office only on 30 June 2005. The timing of the response by Tuticorin Port Trust is significant. After two days, the SSCP (Sethusamudram Canal Project) was inaugurated by the de jure Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the de facto Prime Minister Sonia Gandhi who air dashed to Madurai for the inauguration on July 2 2005.The people of India have smelt a rat in this sequence of stage managed events to cover up many shady facts relating to the SSCP.

        The haste with which Tuticorn Port Trust was asked to respond to PMO's queries raises serious questions on the violation of the due process instituted by the Government in conducting an unbiased and objective evalution by a competent agency. The competence of Tuticorin Port Trust in answering all the 14 queries raised by PMO is unclear. This violation of due process raises serious questions on the viability of the entire project.

        The answers of the Tuticorin Port Trust which formed the basis for inaugurating the project on 2 July, 2005 were apparently prepared by a private company, Dr P Chandramohan of Indomer Hydraulics Pvt.Ltd., Chennai. The possible conflict of interests in engaging a potential contractor/consultant in making such an evaluation is a matter of serious public concern impacting on the impartiality and objectivity of the answers provided on the serious issues raised by the PMO in March 2005.

        The evaluation of the impact of a tsunami on the canal project has been irresponsibly and haphazardly managed. All the PMO's concerns should have been referred to NEERI and the NEERI should have been asked to re-evaluate the two principal issues: 1. impact of another tsunami on the canal as aligned; 2. impact on the ocean currents by the choice of dumping areas for the dredged materials. These two issues were NOT evaluated by NEERI because the final alignment was not known to NEERI and tsunami struck on 26 December 2004, an event which was not taken into account in the earlier evaluation report of NEERI.

        Dr Tad S Murthy of Canada is one of the world's most respected tsunami experts. Till recently, he advised the Canadian government on tsunamis and played an important role in the development of the 'Baird' simulation model of the 26 December, 2004 tsunami.

        He was on the editorial board of the prestigious Tsunami Journal, Science of Tsunami Hazards for many years and presently teaches at the University of Ottawa.

        He has commented extensively and critically about the disastrous consequences of the Sethusamudram Canal Project (SSCP).

        Prof Tad S Murthy of Canada has raised serious concerns on the devastation of Kerala through the proposed canal which will suck in the next tsunami waves if the present alignment is retained. The Chairman of Tuticorin Port Trust has completely ignored the warnings given by Prof. Tad S Murthy of Canada.

        Against this background, I would strongly appeal to the Supreme Court of India to treat this article as a public interest litigation and issue notices to all concerned to review the disastrous cosequences of the implementation of the SSCP in the larger public interest.