Alternative route to Sethusamudram project not feasible: report

The government today told the Supreme Court that according to the report of a high-level committee, any alternative alignment for the Sethusamudram project was not economically and ecologically feasible.

However, solicitor general Rohinton Nariman submitted before a bench comprising justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad that the union cabinet had to yet consider and take a decision on the report prepared by the committee headed by eminent environmentalist R K Pachauri.

The government has been given eight weeks to apprise the bench about the future development of the project.

According to Nariman, the Pachauri committee had considered the issue of alternative alignment, however, it concluded that it was not "economically and ecologically feasible".

Dealing with the issue of risk management in the report, the committee found that an oil spill could potentially cause damage to the ecosystem at the project site.

The Ram Sethu case came up for judicial scrutiny due to a number of petitions filed in the apex court against the ambitious Sethusamudram project, whose execution could allegedly cause damage to the mythological bridge.