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        If it falls to me to start a fight to cut out the cancer of bent and twisted pseudo-secular journalism in our country with the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of DHARMA routed in ancient Hindu Heritage, so be it. The greatest test of courage I can conceive is to speak the truth through the mass media. I have mow come to understand that no responsible citizen of India can ever offend T.R.Balu by telling him the truth. His orchestrated and pre-acted falsehoods, running counter to brutal facts and solid terrestrial reality, are constantly dictated not by his commitment to the public interest but by his undeclared passion for maximising his private interest at the cost of the nation. His fraudulent Dravidian political fiction ludicrously lags after truth; his hourly and daily political invention is unfruitful, and his fertile and corrupt imagination, shows up cold and barren. In working out the Maritime and Nautical Economics of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) his motto seems to be: ''Give me a grain of cosmetic half truth and I will mix it up with a great mass of Dravidian falsehood so that no chemist will ever be able to separate them.'' I would like to give a reply to him suitably adapting the words of Harry S Truman (1884-1972): ''I will never give you hell. I will just tell the truth and you will think it is hell''. I derive my strength from the age old English Proverb “One man plus the truth makes a majority”. I will stop telling the truth about the SSCP only when T.R.Balu stops telling lies to our nation with magisterial authority about the SSCP. The whole of India knows that he never fumbles or stumbles over his untruth or falsehood.

        Having set this public stage let me now present bare facts about the following aspects of SSCP:

        A. Sethusamudram time and space calculations and pilotage rates.

        B. Navigating around Sri Lanka and navigating through SSCP - a distance/cost analysis.

        C. Passages from Kolkata/Chennai to Tuiticorin- a distance/cost analysis.

        The data and facts I am presenting below have been assiduously collected and analysed by my friend Captain H Balakrishnan, formerly a distinguished Officer of the Indian Navy. I can testify to their authenticity and accuracy in any Court of Law in India and abroad.

        I. DISTANCES (in nautical miles- nm) - AROUND SRI LANKA

        1. KOLKATA TO TUITICORIN = 1227 nm

        2. CHENNAI TO TUITICORIN = 750 nm

        (NB: Distances taken from Admiralty Distance Tables)

        II. DISTANCES- KOLKATA-SSCP-TUTICORIN

        3. Kolkata to Palk Straits = 969 nm

        4. SSCP length (152.2 KMS) = 84 nm

        5. SSCP to Tuiticorin =45nm

        6. Total Distance = (3) + (4) + (5) = 1098 nm

        III. DISTANCES- CHENNAI-SSCP-TUTICORIN

        7. Chennai to Palk Straits = 180 nm

        8. SSCP length (152.2 KMS) = 84 nm

        9. SSCP to Tuiticorin = 45 nm

        10. Total Distance = (7) + (8) + (9) = 309 nm

        IV. SAILING TIME- KOLKATA TO TUITICORIN AROUND SRI LANKA

        11. @ 12 knots speed = 1227/12 = 102.25 hours

        V. SAILING TIME- KOLKATA TO TUITICORIN VIA SSCP

        12. Kolkata to Palk Straits

        @ 12 knots speed =969/12 = 80.75 hours

        13. SSCP

        @ 6 knots speed = 84/6 = 14 hours

        14. SSCP to Tuiticorin

        @ 12 knots speed = 45/12 = 3.75 hours

        15. Total time taken

        @ 12 knots and 6 knots = 80.75+14+3.75 = 98.5 hours

        VI. SAILING TIME- CHENNAI TO TUITICORIN- AROUND SRI LANKA AND VIA SSCP

        16. In a similar manner, the passage times from Chennai to Tuiticorin, around Sri Lanka and via the SSCP at speeds and combinations thereof, indicated above, the times taken are indicated below.

        17. Around Sri Lanka @ 12 knots speed = 750/12 = 62.50 hours

        18. Via the SSCP @ 12 and 6 knots combination= 15.0+14.0+3.75 = 32.5hours

        (N.B. The foregoing distances at paras 3 to 19 above have been derived from actual plotting on navigational charts.)

        19. Additional Time For Passage Planning For purposes of embarkation/disembarkation of 'Pilot', manoeuvring of engines in the SSCP, as also for any delays in embarkation of 'Pilot'- ADD = 2 hours (at the minimum) to all the passage times indicated above.

        VII. DEDUCTIONS

        20. From the foregoing calculations, the following main deductions can be arrived at:

        (A) The difference in time taken to reach Tuiticorin from Kolkata, circumnavigating Sri Lanka and navigating through the SSCP at speeds of 12 and 6 knots will be only = 1.75 hours

        (B) The main fact to be noted is that the Indian Flag coal carrying bulk-carriers plying the coastal route to Chennai/ Tuiticorin transit mostly at speeds of 12 to 13 knots. Therefore, time differences between circumnavigating Sri Lanka and transiting through the Sethusamudram Canal are NOT going to be very marked or significant leading to cost advantages.

        (C) While there is savings in distance navigating through the SSCP, this does not automatically translate into commensurate savings in time, on account of the 'slow speeds' required to navigate through the SSCP.

        (D) It is mandatory for ships using the SSCP to embark a 'pilot'. In the calculations above, at a conservative estimate, A Time 2 Hours has been added to passage time calculations. Under actual conditions, this time may be more than the 2 hours. All the major ports of India suffer from a shortage of 'pilots'. Therefore, the SSCP is also likely to suffer from this prevailing malaise. It should therefore be appreciated that vessels arriving at the 'pilot boarding grounds' at the SSCP may have to anchor and await 'pilot boarding'. Viewed in this light, it would further tend reduce the difference in time between circumnavigating Sri Lanka and using the SSCP.

        (E) The 'pilotage rates' that are going to be charged for availing of the Sethusamudram Canal are not known at present. However, this is the only recourse available to recover the 'capital costs' involved in the making of the 'Sethusamudram Canal'. It is therefore appreciated that the 'pilotage rates' for navigating through the Sethusamudram Canal might not prove to be competitive for the shipping industry.

        (F) Navigating through the Sethusamudram Canal, does reduce the distances between Kolkata/Chennai and Tuiticorin. This will reduce fuel costs. However, this advantage will be offset by anticipated 'high pilotage rates' and 'time delays' in embarking 'pilot'.

        21. To conclude, the foregoing shipping and nautical calculations, based upon first principles, clearly highlight the total unviability of the SSCP, from the shipping standpoint. T.R.BALU IS ANSWERABLE TO THE NATION FOR NOT HAVING TAKEN NOTE OF THIS FUNDAMENTAL POINT. I appeal to the Comptroller and auditor General of India to take note on this point and prevent the national disaster of fruitless and misdirected public expenditure.

        After my detailed discussion with Captain H.Balakrishnan the following disturbing facts about the commercial non-feasibility of SSCP have emerged. The official project paper of the SSCP states that the estimated investment of Rs. 2400 crores will '' earn an operating profit from its very FIRST YEAR of operation and that the capital will be recovered with 9 per cent interest WITHIN THE FIRST 25 YEARS after which THERE WILL BE A MAMOTH PROFIT GENERATION in the next 25 years'' (REF: THE HINDU- OPEN PAGE- 21 DEC 2004- ''SETHUSAMUDRAM- WILL THE SHIPS USE IT''- MR. K.S. Ramakrishnan, former Dy Chairman, Chennai Port Trust and former MD, Poompuhar Shipping Corporation, Chennai).

        The major contributor to the earnings of the SSCP will be the ships that navigate through the canal. According to the consultants for the SSCP, the number of ships that are expected to navigate through the SSC is 3055 in 2008 and 7141 in 2025. This is a deliberately inflated figure to meet the commercial and political (wholly private!!) ambitions of T.R.Balu. I hope the Comptroller and Auditor General of India would take due note of this obvious fact.

        We can predict with a reasonable accuracy the number of coal carrying bulk-carriers that will navigate through the SSC. These vessels carry thermal coal from Haldia/Paradeep/Vizag to Chennai/Tuiticorin to cater to the requirements of the Thermal Power Plants located at these ports. Based upon annual requirement of Coal Ships for Tuiticorin Thermal Power Plant, not more than 215 ships will be required per annum to meet the annual coal requirements of Tuticorin Thermal Plant.

        Apart from these 215 coal ships, not more than 200 other ships can be expected to go through SSCP for meeting the petrol requirements of Tuticorin and its hinterland. Even this is an optimistic estimate. Thus at the most, it may be possible that 1000 vessels may use the SSC annually and even this optimistic figure may not be realized, and is nowhere near the projected figure of 3055 vessels in 2008. This is on account of the fact that global shipping trends are towards larger vessels of 60,000 DWT and above, and the SSC being restricted to vessels of 30,000 DWT- 34,000 DWT, with a draught limitation of 10.7 Metres.

        The most devastating conclusion reached by Captain H.Balakrishnan relates to the comparative ananlysis of the cost benefit that would accrue to a shipping company by circumnavigating Sri Lanka on the one hand and transiting through the SSCP on the other.Captain H.Balakrishnan's calculations, after taking into account the voyage fuel costs and pilotage rates for the SSCP, MAKE FOR "STUNNING READING":
 
        (A)  Kolkata to Tuticorin around Sri Lanka / via SSCP.  It is ‘MORE COST EFFECTIVE’ to CIRCUMNAVIGATE Sri Lanka than routing through the SSCP. The total cost of operation from Calcutta to Tuticorin by circumnavigating Sri Lanka will be Rs. 19,49,925.00 (Rupees NINETEEN LAKHS, FORTY NINE THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND TWENT FIVE ONLY).  The total cost of operation from Calcutta to Tuticorin through the SSCP will  be Rs. 19,51,126.00 (Rupees NINETEEN LAKHS, FIFTY ONE THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIX ONLY ).
 
        (B) Chennai to Tuticorin around Sri Lanka / via SSCP.  It is ‘MORE COST EFFECTIVE’ to CIRCUMNAVIGATE Sri Lanka than routing through the SSCP. The total cost of operation from Chennai to Tuticorin by circumnavigating Sri Lanka will be Rs. 13,25,405.00 (Rupees THIRTEEN LAKHS, TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND FIVE ONLY). The total cost of operation from Chennai to Tuticorin through the SSCP will be Rs. 14,51,260.00 (Rupees FOURTEEN LAKHS, FIFTYONE THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY ONLY).

        Against this factual and mathematical background, I fully endorse the Sage-like conclusion of Captain H.Balakrishnan ''The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) just does not make sound 'nautical sense''. To ignorant and boorish Cabinet Ministers in New Delhi, the mathematical calculations of Captain H.Balakrishnan may be of no relevance. To such arrogant men dressed in brief authority, I would love to quote the following words of Bertrand Russell (1872-1970): “Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show.”