Ram Setu a natural structure, claim experts

‘Adams Bridge One-Lakh-Year-Old’

Whatever the Centre’s affidavit may say about the existence of Lord Ram, marine experts are unamious that opposing the waste of time. The Ram Setu, according to them, is a natural marine structure over one-lakh-year-olf and not man-made (during Ramayan era) as is made out to be.

Moreover, experts also termed as baseless the fear that the removal of sediments of a small aea of this setu would increase the intensity of tsunami. “The long stretch of sea around the area is shallow which helps disintregate the energy of the killer wave,” they say.

“It is a natural occurrence of the continuity of sandstone sedimentation which stretches below Dhanushkoti and the isotopic dating indicates that the deposition is over one-lakh-year old,” said Prof. Victor Raja Mannikam, head of department, Disaster Management at Sastra University, Thanjavur. He has studied the site in depth and is considered to be an authority over Ram Setu. Emphatically staiting that the structure, without doubt, is natural, Mannikam says that there is no way it could be associated with Ramayana as the epic dates back to around 5000 BC and this natural sedimentation is over one lakh years old.


Elaborating further, Dr Harshe Gupta, director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), says that the removal of sediments of a small area of this setu would not increase the intensity of tsunami as the shallowness of the sea in the area decreases the velocity of the wave, which otherwise travel at the rate of 700 km per hour in deep sea.

Similarity, N Dubey, associate professor at Makelle University, Ethiopia and an expert in marine sedimentary, says that structure of rocks is identical to what are found on the shores. It is possible that the floating stone, as mentioned in the epic, are colonies of coral which are still available in abundance around the area.

“In addition there is all possibility that the level of sea, because of phenomenon like global warming, has fluctuated and what is perceived in shallow water was once a part of the main land,” he adds.

For me, the society as describedin the epic, represents the metal age (5000-6000BC) and Rama has not constructed the structure as it belongs to Pleistocene Age which shows emergence of stone tools,” said Prof V S Sahay, HoD, anthropology, at Allahabad University.

It was in 1804 that James Rennell, the first surveyor general of the East India Company called Ram Setu as Adams Bridge. Now, in order to reduce the steaming distances between the east and west coast of India and to improve the navigation within territorial waters of India, a navigation within channel connecting the Gulf of Manner and Palk Bay through Adam’s Bridge has been envisaged so that the ships moving between the east and west coasts of India need not go around Sri Lanka. The total cost of the project is Rs 2,427 crore.