Supreme Court to hear plea seeking declaration of 'Ram Sethu' as national heritage monument

The Supreme Court recently agreed to list a plea by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to declare the 'Ram Sethu' a national heritage monument.

• The BJP leader had earlier raised the issue of declaring the Ram Sethu as a national monument in his public interest litigation (PIL) petition against the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel project, initiated by the UPA-I government.
• The matter had reached the apex court, which in 2007 had stayed the work for the project on the Ram Sethu.

About Ram Sethu:

• The Ram Sethu, also known as Adam's bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island or Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.
• The petition was filed against the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Canal project, which will pass through the shoals on Ram Sethu.
• The project had faced protests from some political parties, environmentalists and certain Hindu religious groups.
• Under the project, a 83-kilometre-long deep water channel was to be created, linking Mannar with Palk Strait, by extensive dredging and removal of the limestone shoals.