A case was filed in the Supreme Court to have Ram Sethu declared a national monument. The PIL, filed by advocate Ashok Pandey, also seeks construction of a wall at the site to facilitate the devotees.
On March 20, the apex court said it would first list BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition seeking to direct the Center to declare Ram Sethu as a national cultural monument.
Ram Sethu, also known as Adam’s Bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island off the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island off the northwest coast of Sri Lanka.
Swamy had raised the issue of declaring Ram Sethu as a national monument in his PIL against the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel project initiated by the UPA-I government.
The matter went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 2007 continued the work for the Ram Sethu project.
The Center later said it had considered the “socio-economic disadvantages” of the project and was willing to explore another route to the ship canal project without damaging the Ram Seth.
The Sethusamudram Ship Canal project is facing protests from some political parties, environmentalists and certain Hindu religious groups.
As part of the project, an 83 km long water channel connecting Mannar with the Palk Strait was to be created by extensive dredging and removal of limestone shoals.