Studies have found that the Sethusamundaram canal will bring in more havoc than making revenue for the country.
Studies conducted by Jacob John in Economic and Political Weekly reveals that it will be highly disturbing to the environmental conditions of the region. Sethusamundaram will be a channel dredged in the sea-bed of the Palk Straits, deep enough to accommodate ships of 20,000 DWT, there by saving ships both distance and time. So, it should be able to charge ships for passage, bringing in revenue to make the project economic.
Project documents claim that the canal will save ships 36 hours of time and 570 nautical miles of distance. But a recent study exposes these claims as highly exaggerated as time saving from Europe to Kolkata will be only eight hours, and the distance saving 215 nautical miles. From Africa to Kolkata, the time taken will actually increase by 3.5 hours (being piloted through the canal is a slow process), and distance reduced will be only 70 nautical miles. Thus ships could lose up to $4,992 per passage if they are charged the tariff laid down in project documents. In which case, ships will find it cheaper to go round Sri Lanka. It is also expected that the project will also suffer cost overruns in capital and maintenance dredging, and hence be in the red.
Moreover, Sethusamundaram will be at the constant mercy of currents bearing sand. Hence it’s not the project that will ruin the environment, but the environment will ruin the project. The project envisages maintenance dredging of two million cubic metres per year, infinitely more than required by the Suez and Panama canals. Also global shipping is shifting to ever-larger vessels. Bulk carriers and tankers often exceed 200,000 DWT, and those under 60,000 DWT are being phased out as uneconomic. So, Sethusamundaram will be unsuitable for the large vessels of the 21st century, making it a project of capital wastage.
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