CHENNAI: The DMK on Thursday demanded the Centre to revive the Sethu Project and said that any weakened response from the Centre to this issue would be deemed as a betrayal of Tamils. “Any weakened response of this government to such a crucial issue will only expose the betrayal of hope and promise given to Tamil Nadu by our great leaders”, DMK warned in a memorandum presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi by Union ministers and MPs led by parliamentary leader of the party TR Baalu.The development comes at a time when Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote to the PM to declare Ram Sethu, also known as Adam’s Bridge, a national monument.Claiming the project as unique, the party observed that it was aimed at providing an economic uplift to the southern peninsular.Baalu also noted that the project was inaugurated by the then and serving PM in July 2005 in Sonia Gandhi’s presence with the target of completing it in three years.“The Sethusamudram project envisages the dredging of a channel across the Palk Strait to let ships sailing between the east and west coasts of India, instead of circumventing Sri Lanka. This will save of 424 nautical miles (780 km) and up to 30 hours of sailing time, the memorandum noted”, the memorandum pointed out.“Major portions of the project work have been completed. With only 22 km of dredging work left, vested interests had approached the Supreme Court and obtained a stay”, it added.“We note with anguish and dismay that those certain reactionary elements and forces inimical to the development of Tamil Nadu resorted to a discernible pattern of modus operandi to sabotage projects which could have brought immense economic benefit to the people of Tamil Nadu and India”, it said.
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