The national heritage protection movement is also an environmental protection movement.
The national movement for the protection of Ram Sethu as a world heritage monument gained momentum and support from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), a premier oceanography institution of India. Environmentalists who have been fighting for the conservation of the marine biosphere of Sethusamudram should congratulate NIO scientists for highlighting their unbiased scientific conclusions.
On November 4, 2009, the Supreme Court of India has asked the Centre to file a proper report on the Sethusamudram Ship Canal project within four weeks. Environmentalists of the world owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Subramanian Swamy who has spearheaded the case for protection of the environmental and heritage monument of Ram Sethu which is sacred ecology for millions of world citizens.
Background
On July 30, 2008, acting on the apex court’s guidance, the Central Government had constituted a high-powered committee under the Chairmanship of R K Pachauri to review the possibility of an alternative alignment for Sethu canal, running on land north of Dhanushkodi to avoid an ecological disaster by avoiding demolition of or damage to the historic, sacred and world heritage monument of Ram Sethu.
Pachauri panel referred the question of feasibility to the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa.
Ecological consequences of a shipping canal in Sethusamudram
NIO submitted its report in March 2009. The report warns of disastrous consequences for India if the Sethu canal project is taken forward.
NIO examined the feasibilty of a channel across Dhanushkodi land with reference to :
1. Stability of the channel and its surroundings under the impact of seasonal cycle of sediment transport and under the impact of cyclones;
2. Impact on the environment of the biosphere reserve due to changes brought about (such as regime of sedimentary processes) due to the construction and operation of the channel with the Dhanushkodi land alignment; and
3. Impact on the environment of the biosphere reserve due to accidental oil spill in the channel when it is operational.”
Principal conclusions of the NIO report
A full fledged Environmental Impact Analysis is recommended to be carried out “to enable robust conclusions.”
Meagre information on ecological indicators
The data available in the region of interest are “meagre”. The observations are, in general, restricted to the vicinity of Tuticorin, which is too far from Adam’s Bridge for the measurements made there to be useful for evaluating this project. The only data available in the vicinity of Adam’s Bridge are from three current-meter measurements just southeast of Dhanushkodi (in the Gulf of Mannar) for about 48 hours each during August 1997, December 1997, and March 1998. “Hence no serious inference can be drawn from a data record this short, and therefore we make no attempt to interpret these data”.
Hydrodynamic simulation model
The available data are “clearly inadequate for an assessment of the possible impact of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project.” Hence all that could be validly attempted was a simulation model to examine the consequences of a change in the alignment of Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project.The model results show that there is no major difference between the two alignments,
1. Dhanushkodi land alignment and 2. Alignment in the ocean across Ram Sethu with respect to hydrodynamics or sediment transportation. The one difference noted which seems minor, between the two alignments is that Dhanushkodi land alignment cuts across a spit and thereby disturbs the natural sediment dynamics of the spit. This would lead to increased sediment deposition in the channel and the need for increased dredging, and also erosion of the spit to the east of the channel.
Impact on marine biota in the Marine Biosphere Reserve
Given the paucity of data, it is difficult to make a conclusive statement on whether Dhanushkodi land alignment would cause more damage to the marine biota in the reserve.
The impact of an oil spill in the channel on the Marine Biosphere Reserve has not been studied in the absence of data.
Impact of cyclones of the region
The cyclone of 1964 wiped out Dhanushkodi town. The model studies reported here have not been repeated for such cyclones, but the consequences for the channel (irrespective of alignment) will obviously be more serious. While it is likely that the damage will be more in the case of Dhanushkodi land alignment, with the stability of the spit being a serious concern, it is likely that the potential damage in all other respects, is likely to be the same for both alignments.
Impact of tectonics of the region
“There is a fault running parallel to the coastline. During February 1948 to January 1949, tectonic events led to the submergence of part of Dhanushkodi town. What is the potential impact of similar tectonic events on the Sethusamudram Canal? An answer to this question, though beyond the scope of this report, is clearly needed to estimate the impact and viability of this project.”
Beyond these valid observations of NIO, there is an imminent danger of another devastating tsunami given the fragile nature of the plate tectonics near the Sunda plate (near Aceh, Indonesia) close to the Indian Ocean.
Impact of tsunamis of the region
Example of tsunami-protection wall in Japan.
A multi-disciplinary team of experts should be constituted immediately, by the Union of India to study the warnings of another tsunami which will devastate the nation’s coastline and lives and property of coastal people and establish Disaster Management Zones all along the vulnerable coastline with structures like tsunami-protection walls constructed in Japan. See http://www.unisdr.org/ppew/tsunami/what-is-tsunami/backinfor-brief.htm
Next tsunami
Sacred traditions help us remember the sacredness of the earth of which we are only trustees of the present and future generations. We do NOT have the right to destroy this sacred ecology and deny future generations, the privilege of worshipping sacred sites and remembering the ancestors who have given the humanity its very identity.
Indian Ocean Rim states impacted by the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
(http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/propagation-database.html)
The next tsunami is likely to impact the same Indian Ocean region – a lesson learnt from history.
List and locations of catastrophic tsunamis of Indian Ocean
What the scientists tell us about earthquakes and tsunamis should make us pause and ponder.
The 9.0 earthquake of December 26, 2004 at 6.58 hours with the epicenter in Sri Lanka led to a sequence of 15 quakes across the Andaman region. While earthquakes could not be predicted in advance, once the earthquake is detected it is possible to give about 3 hours of notice of a potential tsunami. Such a system of warnings is in place across the Pacific Ocean but is only being put in place in the Indian Ocean; this needs further cooperation among the nations of the Indian Ocean community.
Nature magazine reports: “Tens of millions of people along the heavily populated coasts of Myanmar, Bangladesh and West Bengal could be living under threat of a tsunami as massive as the one that devastated the Sumatran coast in 2004, according to a report to be released by Nature. The report claims that while the 2004 disaster took the scientific community by surprise many of the same warning signs currently exist in the Bay of Bengal.”
When the plate boundaries abruptly deform and vertically displace the overlying water, a tsunami occurs. A tsunami travels very fast as ocean waves, about 800 km/h, or 0.2 km/sec for a water depth of 5000 m. Seismic waves are faster and cause enormous upheavals on the earth’s crust and ocean-beds. Oceans are the treasure of humanity and it is our responsibility to harness the treasure in a sustainable manner through well-regulated Marine Economic Zones which have the potential to make the Indian Ocean Community a veritable powerhouse to create wealth of nations, while providing new livelihood opportunities to over 2 billion people on the globe.
(To be continued)
(The writer is National President, Rameshwaram Rama Setu Protection Movement and can be contacted at kalyan97@gmail.com)
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