[Reader-list] Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project - Blueprint for an ecological disaster

[Partha Dasgupta]

Hi,

As an aside, had an offline chat with Pawan when he mentioned that he plans
to plant a 1000 trees - something so simple yet so important that I didn't
even remember it.

The basics are simple steps we can take that will make a difference in the
long run. And yes, I do agree that our shattered environment (including the
Sethusamudram project) needs a serious rethink as to where the ecology is
going.

Rgds, Partha
..................

On 9/17/07, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> This is one of the rare occasions where I think I am in near total
> agreement with Pawan Durani. So, I thought I would break my silence.
> Thank you Pawan for the links that you have sent.
>
> I think that the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project is indeed a blueprint
> for the unfolding of a human tragedy and an ecological disaster. And I
> think it ranks along with the Narmada Dam Project as a plan that is
> deeply inimical to the interests and livelihoods of the people who will
> be affected by it most, namely local fisher folk (for whom the region is
> an age old natural fishing commons).
>
> I see no reason why ancient fishing practices and the delicate natural
> ecology of the region should have to be disrupted just so that
> Capitalism (in the form of ships carrying containers) and the Indian
> Navy's ships can gain a few hours while crossing from the west to the
> east coast of India. If for all these centures, ships have had to round
> the southern tip of Sri Lanka to move from the Arabian sea to the Bay of
> Bengal, and traverse the waters of the Indian Ocean region, I do not see
>   why then the  livelihoods of the inhabitants of the region have to be
>   suddenly sacrified for them to be able to move faster.I see absolutely
> nothing wrong in insisting that the ships take the same time that they
> have always taken?
>
> However, I have also watched worthies from the Bharatiya Janata Party,
> especially, Shri Murli Manohar Joshi, present their 'alternative'
> project for the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project over the last few days
> on television - which is to cut a canal through the southern tip of the
> Deccan peninsula. And I think that proposal is just as much of a
> potential human and ecological disaster as  the disruption of the
> Sethusamudram region. So the new found 'greening' of the BJP, needs to
> be understood for what it is. Yet another recipe for the displacement of
> people and the violent disruption of the landscape, on the same scale as
> Sardar Sarovar project and the proposed scheme to link rivers that was
> the pet project of the esteeemed erstwhile president of the Indian
> republic.
>
> I would like to point readers on the list to consider the tragic
> histories of Panama (a state, now a narco-republic, carved out in order
> to dig a canal) and the Suez canal (over which at least one major
> military conflict - the Suez crisis of 1956 erupted. I have no doubt
> that The BJP's recently found enthusiasm for cutting a canal through
> Southern India will no doubt create  'swadeshi' versions of
> narco-republicanism, and aggressive military posturing a la Panama and
> Suez.
>
> Also, on a parting note, let us not forget the decision by successive
> governments, controlled by the Congress or led by the BJP, that did not
> have any qualms about violating the delicate ecology of the Thar desert
> with Nuclear explostions, or completely destroying the equally delicate
> Himalayan glacial environment of Siachen in the part of Jammu and
> Kashmir occupied by India, by stationing troops, heavy artillery and
> continuing what must be one of the most tragic, bizarre, violent and
> wasteful military engagements with landscape in the history of the
> modern world.
>
> So, yes let us all demand that the Sethusamudram region be left alone,
> let us demand that no more nuclear explosions or tests ever take place
> in the Thar desert or anywhere in the landmass of all of South Asia, or
> in the Lop Nor plateau in Tibet, and let us demand also a unilateral
> ceasefire and troop withdrawal from Siachen, and let us demand immediate
> cessation of the Sardar Saroval Project on the river Narmada and that
> the river linking project be abandoned. I would be absolutely willing to
> assent to all these demands, and while doing so, I would also demand
> that those who took the decisions to conduct Nuclear Tests in Pokhran in
> India (in 1974 and in 1998) and in the Chagai Hills in Pakistan (in
> 1998) or on the Lop Nor plateau in Tiber offer uconditional apologies to
> the people of India, Pakistan and Tibet (and to all peoples in Asia) for
> the serious damage that these tests caused to the ecology of South and
> Central Asia.
>
> I sincerely hope that all of you will agree with me.
>
> regards
>
> Shuddha
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Pawan Durani wrote:
>
> > http://tamilinfoservice.com/manitham/environment/sscp/article/4.htm
> >
> > http://www.tamilnation.org/diaspora/tamilnadu/050404sethu.htm
> >
> > http://www.greensl.net/campaigns003.php
> >
> > http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/a-blunder-called-sethusamudram/
> >
> >
> > Where are all those who had been talking about ecological disaster
> during
> > Narmada Dam project ? Why are they silent ?  Where are the
> activists  and
> > the film makers ?
> >
> > I do understand their problems and the "compulsions".
> >
> > God Bless !
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