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        It is reliably understood that after the Writ Petition of Dr Subramanian Swamy against the destruction of Rama Setu Bridge was admitted by the Madras High Court on 15 May 2007, Dr Manmohan Singh advised Shipping Minister T R Baalu to take particular care to see that Rama Setu Bridge is not destroyed till the disposal of the case. T R Baalu is treating the Prime Minister with supreme contempt. In so far as he is concerned, he takes orders only from Sonia Gandhi and Karunanidhi. The whole of India knows that Sonia Gandhi is not only a non-Hindu but also a sworn anti-Hindu. Karunanidhi is a known anti-Hindu. Both Sonia Gandhi and Karunanidhi are conspiring to destroy the Rama Setu Bridge by hook or by crook using T R Baalu as their hatchet man for that dastardly operation. It is not therefore surprising that T R Baalu backed up by the combined might of Sonia Gandhi and Karunanidhi is talking like Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) both in the Lok Sabha and outside when he says "There is no Ramar Bridge and if anyone comes up with scientific evidence I am ready to resign my post".

        In these columns, I wrote a series of six articles in which I had given detailed historic, cartographic, epigraphic, numismatic and literary evidence to show the existence of Rama Setu Bridge for centuries and centuries. All these irrefutable facts seem to be irrelevant to T R Baalu who is functioning like Nazi Dictator, Adolf Hitler, ably assisted by his specially chosen Goebbels in the person of one Ragupathy, who is the Chairman of Tuticorin Port Trust. Both of them are guilty of deliberately misleading the nation on the vital aspect and dimension of the NAUTICAL ECONOMICS of Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP). In uttering unabashed falsehood in this context, T R Baalu seems to derive his inspiration from Adolf Hitler's words: "What luck for rulers that men do not think. The great masses of the people... will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one. By the skilful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise. " T R Baalu is guilty of gigantic falsehood and he vaingloriously thinks that he can cover it up under the barrage of his misleading propaganda.

        Ever since I started exposing the Himalyan fraud relating to the SSCP, I have been in touch with several Naval Officers from the Indian Navy and also Marine Officers from the Merchant Navy in order to understand in depth the Marine and Nautical details and aspects of SSCP in all its repercussions and ramifications. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the great help I have received in studying this dimension from Captain H.Balakrishnan, a brilliant retired Officer from the India Navy. He is an alumni of the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla. He was commissioned in the 'Executive Branch' of the Indian Navy on 1 Jan 1969.
 

As a specialist in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), he was the first officer of the Navy, along with two other colleagues, to have been selected by the Navy to undergo the specialisation at the then 'U.S.S.R NAVAL WAR ACADEMY'-Leningrad (now re-christened as St. Petersburg) in 1971-'72.He graduated in his specialisation course with 'Distinction'. During the 1971 Operations, his ship, INS Tir, was the first to establish a wartime patrol off Chittagong, in March 1971. In 1985, he became the 'first' officer in the Indian Navy to assume command of the guided missile frigate, INS Trishul, in the rank of a 'Commander', taking over the frigate from the command of a 'Captain' (higher in rank to a Commander).         He has served as the Command Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer, at the HQ. Western Naval Command, Mumbai as also the Command Operations and Plans Officer, HQ. Southern Naval Command, Kochi. He has also commanded the 'Anti-Submarine Warfare School' at Kochi, which trains the specialist ASW officers and sailors for the Navy. Between 1991-2001, he has sailed the Bay of Bengal as a 'Master Mariner' in the Merchant Navy. His knowledge of sea and sailing conditions in the Palk Strait and Mannar Bay area is indeed formidable.  I have had detailed discussions with Captain H Balakrishnan on the Marine and Nautical aspects of SSCP. I am presenting some bare facts below based upon his article "Setusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP) - A Mariner's Perspective".

        1. The total length of the SSCP in the Palk Bay is 152.2 Kms. It is divided into three legs. The Southern leg in the Adam's Bridge area is 20 Kms. The Northern leg in the Palk Strait area is 54.2 Kms. The Central portion is 78 Kms. Dredging is to be carried out in the Southern and Northern legs to maintain a dredged depth of 12 metres. This would facilitate a navigable channel for ships with a draught of upto 10.7 meters. The canal will be 300 meters wide.

        2. The basic justification advanced in favour of the project is that it will reduce the sailing distance between Kolkata and Tuiticorin by 340 nautical miles and between Chennai and Tuiticorin by 434 nautical miles. This enables savings in fuel costs and sailing time, for ships plying between these ports.

        3. The viability of the SSCP can be analysed under the following heads that have a bearing on shipping:

        I. Environmental Factors

        II. Security Implications

        III. Navigational and Allied Factors

        I. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

        A. TROPICAL CYCLONES

        The SSCP authorities have completely ignored the impact of this factor in their appraisal of the project. The India Meteorological Department has assigned the Palk Bay area as a 'High Risk Area' for cyclonic activity. The cyclone season the Bay of Bengal is generally between Oct to Jan. It is interesting to note that the IMD's records from 1891-2001, states that of the 452 cyclones that hit the Indian coastline, 256 were on the East coast. Mariners, in a lighter vein, often refer to the Tamil Nadu coast between Rameswaram and Cuddalore as the 'cyclone coast'!! Of the 256 cyclones referred, 64 have crossed the Tamil Nadu coast in this period. Of these, 36 were 'severe cyclones' (winds in excess of 90 Kmph). More interesting, of these cyclones, SIX have crossed the Palk Bay, 14 have crossed the coast at Nagapattinam and THREE have crossed the Gulf of Mannar. All these cyclones can have a devastating consequence on the SSCP and shipping in the area.

        Here are a few examples of the devastating consequences of these cyclones:

        a) In Dec 1964, a cyclone washed away the Pamban Bridge.

        b) In Dec 1973, FIVE metres high tidal waves hit the Palk Bay area – the very same area where the SSCP is to be dredged!!

        c) In Dec 1977/78, under the influence of a severe cyclonic storm that crossed the coast near Nagapattinam, 120 Kmph winds were recorded in the Palk Bay area.

        d) In Nov/Dec 1997/98, an oil-drilling ship, anchored with SIX anchors in the Cauvery Basin, broke loose from her anchors and was washed ashore by a cyclone.

        It will be clear from the foregoing facts that the Bay of Bengal cyclones pose a 'clear, live and present danger' to 'Safety of Lives at Sea' (SOLAS). And, the SSCP is sought to be created in a 'cyclone danger area' in an audacious manner by T R Baalu and Co.

        B. SILTATION

        Allied to the cyclonic activity in the area, is the problem of siltation leading to a loss of sea depth. Scientists have concluded that the Palk Bay area is one of the FIVE areas, off the Indian coast, where the onslaught of siltation takes place regularly. Some of their calculations have indicated a loss in sea depth of about 1 cms every year. It is pertinent to state that TWO of the LEGS of the SSCP, where dredging is to be undertaken, happen to cross two such micro regions where high siltation takes place. This fact of Siltation has been deliberately kept out of feasibility analysis.

        Captain H Balakrishnan rightly concludes: ".....The environmental factors of cyclonic activity and siltation rates in the Palk Bay area impinge on shipping safety. It has also to be noted that maintenance dredging may have to be undertaken on a permanent perennial basis right through the year to maintain dredged depths. This could lead to substantially increasing the costs of the SSCP."

        II. SECURITY IMPLICATIONS

        A. The SSCP has completely overlooked the Security Implications arising from the Global Scene on Maritime Terrorism. While terrorist attacks are predominantly land based, non-state actors have also sought to exploit vulnerabilities in shipping, ports and the container supply chains in Asia, Middle- East, Europe and North America. The list of foiled, failed and successful attempts in maritime-related terrorism over the past decade is significant. Yet, there is a tendency to overlook or downplay what has happened, and thus ignore the possibility of further trouble. It is clear that terrorists can see the potential of using the maritime trading system and its land links in the container supply chain to conceal weapons or agents for attack purposes.

        Captain H Balakrishnan cites the following two recent examples of terrorist attacks on naval warships to illustrate this point:

        1) Attack on the U.S.S. Cole. In Oct 2000, Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen, packed a small boat with explosives and rammed the same onto the U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S.S. Cole, while the ship was in harbour. The blast left a gaping hole on the side of the destroyer and the cost of repairs amounted to USD 250 million. The blast killed 17 U.S. Naval sailors and, wounded another 40 seamen.

        2) Missile attack on Israeli Naval Ships. On 14 July 2006, two days after hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah commenced, the latter fired TWO, C-802 radar guided cruise missiles from ashore in Lebanon, at Israeli naval vessels patrolling off the Lebanese coast. One missile seriously damaged an Israeli naval corvette. The second missile narrowly missed another corvette. Instead it hit a Cambodian registered merchant vessel, sinking it with eleven men on board.