Jai Shri Ram!!! But, Who is Rama?

Its so ironical to see people of India say "Jai Shri Ram" and the people's government says "Who is Ram?".

Well, as always, I use the blog post to point out contradictions & similarities in facts, myths, political statements, scientific statements et al and of course to raise questions, the answers for which would be given by the readers themselves.

Prologue: Government of India wants to construct the Sethusamudram canal going right through the Ram-Sethu bridge and in the process damaging it. To counter the voice in the opposition, that says that Ram-Sethu is a religious symbol constructed by Rama's warriors, the Indian government had said that Ram-Sethu is not a man-made structure and used the Archaeological Society of India's (ASI) reference.

Couple of basic questions arise and I will try to answer them, backed up with facts, of course, and also backed up with my own contradictions..

Question-1: Is Sethusamudram project economically viable and sustainable?
Answer: Questions on economics don't have a direct answer anytime. I tried my best to source information for this question and I did not search long, my first stop wikipedia gave me this..
"The project will be of particular significance to Tuticorin harbour, which has the potential to transform itself into a nodal port. The State Government has announced its proposal to develop 13 minor ports"
But the opposing view point is this...
"At the present tariff rates, ships from Africa and Europe will lose $ 4,992 on every voyage, as the savings in time for these ships are considerably lower that what is calculated in the DPR. This loss is significant as 65% of the projected users of the canal are those from Africa and Europe. If tariffs are lowered to a point where ships from Africa and Europe will not lose any money from using the canal, the IRR of the project falls to 2.6%! This is a level at which even public infrastructure projects are rejected by the government."
Cost: More than Rs.2450 crores
More References: I found a more technical explanation on why this project may not be economically viable by Mr.K.S.Ramakrishnan (fomer Deputy Chairman, Chennai Port trust) . Read it here.

Question-2:Is the project damaging a historical monument? or rephrased as, Is Ram-Sethu a man-made bridge constructed by Rama's warriors?
Answer: Well, spiritual and religious questions too don't have straight forward answers. For instance, what is the answer for questions like Is there a god? or Can you prove god's existence?
Government of India has used the ASI to back up its claim that Ram-Sethu is not a man-made bridge, but contradictions are a part of India and here is the other point of view, Dr Badrinarayanan - former director of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) & former coordinator of the survey division of the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Science says "It (Ram-Sethu) is not a natural formation; the top portion of it appears to be a man-made structure" . The entire details can be found here
More References: (Note: Not sure of the validity of these links)
http://www.rense.com/general30/nasa.htm

Question 3:Is the project environementally safe?
I believe that this is the most important question to be asked than any other question. Gulf of Mannar is the ecologically richest coastal region in India and even a slight change may cause drastic impacts.
Answer: My search for answer for this question gave an authentic NO from all fronts. This project is going to be a major environmental disaster for the region. This can be through any possible ways. Some of them listed below:

1. Oil spills from container ships.
2. Marine species get depleted or even extinct.
3. I read that Ram-Sethu was a natural barrier against sea fury and it was a major reason why Rameshwaram and adjoining areas where not affected by the Tsunami. What could happen if its gone?

Well, the above questions are layman questions. People like you and me ask those questions. A more technical and comprehensive analysis is needed (FACT: No major enviromental impact studies were done for this project). Find a more detailed analysis in wikipedia here.

Fisheries would be hugely impacted by this project. Has the Government thought anything about the fishermen folks in the entire southern coastal region?

More references: "This area has attained some sort of equilibrium over many centuries, and all the drilling and blasting of rocks may activate the fault and may trigger seismic activity or earth quakes. It may also trigger other events, which may be very detrimental. That is because the hot water from the north, which is blocked by the Adam's Bridge, will come to the south and will disturb the coral islands. The result will be the destruction of the corals. Not only that, whenever there is a major tsunami or cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, it is blocked by the so called bridge. Out of 18 depressions in the Bay of Bengal at least six turn into cyclones." Dr Badrinarayanan - former director of GSI. The complete details can be found here
NOTE: The above point sounds ominous. As I always ask, why is our dear earth and the common man a casualty for a not so sure economic development?

Question-4: Is Ramayana a mythological text and not a religious book?
Answer: The answer to this question is simple. NO. Ramayana is a religious book. The principal protagonist, Lord Rama, is accepted as a Hindu god and hence Ramayana is no means a mythological text. Arguing from another view point, and meaning no offense to anyone, can Bible be considered as mythological text even if Jesus is the main character in it? In the same way Ramayana is no way a mythological text.
I think, the government erred in a big way by projecting Ramayana as a mythological text.

Well, its politics all the way. But my questions above obviously touched the demerits of the project more than the merits. Some merits obviously are the following:

Enhanced coastal security: I am sure that the project would give more leeway and strength for the coast guard on both sides of the Ram-Sethu. This would mean enhanced secutiry for the south-Indian coastal line. No questions and agreed completely.

Anything else? Anything else?

Well, I tried my best to take a neutral stance here, trying to analyze both the positives and negatives of this project. But frankly, apart from security, I can't identify any assured positives from this project. Economic development is possible, but not assured, as I have discussed above.

With so many points against it, is it worth going ahead with the SethuSamudram project? If a layman like me can consider so many points for a project of this scale(remember its worth 2400 crores of rupees), why not the government with its massive institutional support do anything significant, before proceeding ahead?

Let me finish with some quotes from our dear politicans on this project....
"Taken up after long struggle" Mr.Karunandhi - CM of Tamil Nadu
"If anybody proves that it is man-made, I will give up my ministerial post," T.R.Baalu - Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways
"technologically challenging and economically vital," Sonia Gandhi

and the last one....
"Its the dream of every Tamilian", Mr.Karunandhi.

I hope, sincerely, that this just remains a dream. So that the real future is more nicer and greener.