A VHP rally against the destruction of the Ram Setu. File picture

New Delhi, Jan. 31: The security establishment has for the first time voiced concern over threats that could emerge with the cutting open of a maritime channel in the Palk Strait, opening a new front in the controversy over the Sethusamudram project.

The project was conceived to increase navigability between India’s east and west coasts but the Sangh parivar and the BJP oppose it on religious grounds, alleging that dredging the strait will damage the Ram Setu or Adam’s Bridge.

They believe the setu is the bridge Ram’s monkey army built on the way to Lanka.

But today’s observation by the director-general of the Indian Coast Guard — that the narrow channel will be fraught with security risks — have raised questions on whether the project has been put through a security audit.

The concerns of the coast guard and, by extension, the navy don’t mean that they have objected to the project. But it is probably inevitable that the security establishment’s concern will be taken up by the BJP and the Sangh parivar to sharpen their arguments against the project.

M. Karunanidhi’s DMK government in Tamil Nadu and Union shipping minister T.R. Baalu are among the most vocal supporters of the project.

“The government has taken our view. Security and environmental issues are bound to arise. There are security threats,” Vice-Admiral R.F. Contractor, the coast guard director-general, said.

Asked to enumerate the threats, he said: “You know, it will be a narrow channel. The vessels will be sailing in close proximity of another country (Sri Lanka). You can have piracy there. There are omni-directional threats.”

Last week, the chief of naval staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, had said in Chennai that the project would not be of much help to the naval fleet. Warships would be too large for the eastern and western fleets to deploy vessels through the channel without having to sail around Sri Lanka. Mehta did not specifically speak about the security threat.

“I would say that the fear is about the area becoming a focal point for terrorists,” former naval chief Admiral (retired) Arun Prakash told The Telegraph. “It is a shallow and narrow channel. This basically means that vessels will have to sail slowly. With the LTTE still active in Sri Lanka, these would be easy targets.”

Admiral Prakash said it was not in the navy’s writ to object to the project. “If the government wants to create something, it is our job to protect it. But there are other concerns.

“For instance, if you start bearing down on the LTTE, there could be repercussions in Tamil Nadu. I think the coast guard DG is right in expressing his concern but it means the navy and the coast guard will have to take on the responsibility.”

The project, which plans to make the channel between Dhanuskodi in India and Talai Mannar in Sri Lanka navigable, will mostly help coastal shipping. Bulk carriers and large oil tankers will not be able to sail through the channel.