Destruction of Ramsetu

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I am posting the articles that I have come across (the basis of my posting views on Tsunami and ecology) and it is not necessary that i subscrible to all the views in the newspaper clippings or articles.

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Will ships use canal at such costs?

K.S.Ramakrishnan

Former Deputy Chairman, Madras Port Trust

Madras Musings 1-16 July 2005



The basic justification of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) is that it will reduce the distance between Kolkata and Tuticorin by 340 nautical miles and between Chennai and Tuticorin by 434 nautical miles, thereby saving for the ships plying between these places both fuel cost and time involved in sailing the additional distance.


This justification will be readily valid if the SSC is a free seaway which ships can sail through without any payment to the project authority.


But the SSC can not be a free seaway… as ships will be allowed to pass through the canal only under regulated pilotage, and pushed /pulled by tugs belonging to the SSCP.


Obviously, even while saving on the cost of fuel, a ship passing through the canal will be expected to make a payment to the SSCP for using the facility.


The likely pilotage charge to be levied by the SSCP has not been made public, but an approximate figure can be guessed by extrapolating similar charges levied by the Chennai and Tuticorin Port at present.


The approach channel to the Chennai port has a length of 7 km. A 36,000 tonne coal ship calling at Chennai has to pay approximately Rs.21.75 a tonne, or a total of Rs.7.83 lakh, as pilotage charges averaging Rs.1.11 lakh per km.


Tuticorin's approach channel is only 2.4 km long and an identical coal ship calling at this port is levied Rs.17 a tonne, or a total of 6.12 lakh, towards pilotage, working out to Rs.3 lakh per km.
(The comparative lower rate per km at Chennai is because the capitol cost of digging the much older channel has been amortised a long time ago.)


The projected length of the Sethusamudram channel is 56 km. Both capital and recurring cost will be much higher for the SSCP than for the Chennai and Tuticorin ports, and its levy of pilotage per km is likely to be substantially higher than that of even the latter if it has to have a 9 per cent return on the capital.


Even if the Chennai rate is assumed, the same ship will have to pay over 60 lakhs to the SSCP for passing through the canal.


But the cost of fuel that will be saved by the same ship by taking the shorter route through the Sethusamudram canal instead of sailing round Sri Lanka will be less than Rs. 7 lakh, which is even less than 1/8 of SSCP's likely levy.


The saving in sailing time for that ship will also be substantially less than the 36 hours projected by the SSCP because the ship can not be towed through the canal at its normal speed through the canal, and the time will also be lost in embarkation/disembarkation of pilots and other inspection procedures. The saving in sailing time of just about a day will not justify the incurring of over 8 times the cost of fuel saved.

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Tsunami expert raises fears over Sethusamudram Canal
Interview with Professor Tad S. Murty

Interview with Prof G Victor Rajamanickam

Prof. Tad S. Murty is one of the most respected Tsunami Experts around the world; he advises the Government of Canada on Tsunamis and had played an important role in the development of the 'Baird' simulation model of the December 26th Tsunami. He was in the Editorial Board of the most prestigious Tsunami Journal "Science of Tsunami Hazards" for many years.

He along with Dr.Arun Bapat, had analysed the Tsunamis of the Indian Ocean in 1999.* He was in India this January to participate in the 'Brainstorming' Session on the Tsunami of 26th December organized jointly by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Department of Ocean Development (DOD), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian National Science Academy (INSA) on 21-22 January, 2005 at New Delhi. Subsequently, when National Institute of Oceanography, Goa organised a National Workshop on Formulation of Science Plan for "Coastal Hazard Preparedness" on 18 - 19 February 2005, he set the tone for the workshop with his paper titled "Perspectives on Coastal Hazard Preparedness".

The following is an e-mail interview conducted with him by the Editor of this web portal on 7- 11 July 2005. The interview assumes its importance following the July 24, 2005 Nicobar 7.3 R Earthquake that had caused much panic. It also assumes its importance as the Expert Level discussion between India and Sri Lanka on the possible impact of the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project on the marine and coastal environments of both the countries is scheduled on 1 August 2005 at New Delhi.

* [" TSUNAMIS ON THE COASTLINES OF INDIA" Science of Tsunami Hazards Volume 17(3), 1999]

Question: Would you please tell me what you personally think about the reply given to the Prime Minister by Tuticorin Port Trust with regard to your critical opinion about the present alignment of the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel published in the Indian Express dated 18 January 2005?

Prof. Tad S.Murty: I would first of all share with you a bit of background on my slight involvement with Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project.

In January 2005, I was in India as the tsunami expert on the delegation of Prime minister Paul Martin (Canada) visit to various Asian countries following the tsunami. On 18th January I was with the prime minister at a press briefing in Delhi.

Later some Indian express and Telegraph reporters spoke to me about SSCP and I made these comments. Earlier I was working on a paper on SSCP and was interested in the scientific aspects of the project.

In May Tuticorin Port Trust (TPT) sent me a fax dated early February asking for my comments and said that the project is finalized by end of Feb and they wanted my comments within 24 hours. I replied to Mr. Raghunadh (IAS officer) ( read: Mr.Ragupathy - Editor ) that I received his fax only in May and possibly I cannot reply by mid-Feb. I sent a page explaining why the eastern entrance of the channel should be re-oriented.

After a few days I received a reply saying that his experts outright dismissed my idea as ridiculous and has absolutely no merit. I did not do anything after this, as I have no official involvement. If you include my student days in the Andhra University and later at the university of Chicago, I have more than 45 years of experience with tsunamis worldwide and I know what I am talking about.

I cannot understand why Tuticorin Port Trust could not find me when everyone else can find me. The Indian Express newspaper article clearly says that I was staying at the Taj Palace hotel in Delhi and will be there for another week or so. Question: How do you react to Tuticorin Port Trust's statement that the suggestion you had made with respect to the present alignment of the Channel and its possible chance of acting as a conduit to future tsunamis, thus paving way to causing damage to South Kerala coast as untenable? Prof. Tad S.Murty: Tuticorin Port Trust (TPT) of course can draw whatever conclusions they want to. I feel that the Bay of Bengal entrance of the present orientation of the channel will undoubtedly funnel tsunami energy into the channel and this will meet the tsunami traveling from south of Sri Lanka at the southern part of Kerala and through constructive interference will augment the tsunami wave amplitudes. The southern part of Kerala was not much impacted by the 26th December 2004 tsunami mainly because the tsunami that arrived from the Indian Ocean has to diffract around Sri Lanka, which necessarily has to take a very wide turn (because tsunamis are long gravity waves and cannot bend as easily as short waves, just like a big car versus a mini. A mini cut corners, but a big car has to take very wide turns.) and missed south Kerala.

It is very easy to show that the SSCP channel with a depth of 12m will indeed provide another route for the tsunami and the energy will be directed towards south Kerala. I have no official connection with the SSCP, only a scientific curiosity plus my concern that south Kerala will be put at risk in future. I do not worry that TPT does not think much of my ideas or me. I do not have to justify myself to TPT. I have to fight my battles, not with TPT but in the field of peer reviewed international scientific journals.

To summarize, a re-orientation of the eastern entrance of the channel towards northwest will fix the tsunami problem. Why this concerns me is a parallel example in the Alberni canal on Vancouver Island, British Columbia province of Canada. In the March 28th 1964 Alaska earthquake tsunami, outside of Alaska, the largest tsunami amplitude was at the head of the Alberni canal well inland and not at the open coast as everyone expected. Later when I joined the Canadian Oceanographic Service, I explained this as due to quarter wave resonance amplification.

The SSP canal has many characteristics similar to the Alberni canal, and this is the reason I am concerned. Question: The Detailed Project Report prepared by L&T - Ramboll has finalized the location of the dumping sites for the dredged materials.

They are located in Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mannar and have a depth ranging from 30 to 40 km. These sites happen to lie just north of and south of the entrance and exit of the channel. What are the chances for these sites to remain safe and stable during the time of a future tsunamis and cyclones? Also, what are the chances for them to be carried over into the channel in the event of future tsunamis and cyclones?

Prof. Tad S.Murty: I need to do some back of the envelope calculations to precisely answer your question, which I will do in a few days. However, my initial intuition is that the dumping sites will not be completely stable, especially if they happen to be in the path of the tsunami waves. They may be relatively stable from the cyclones and storm surges, since these do not cause much bottom scouring like tsunamis. The safety issue arises if they are contaminants, especially radioactive contaminants.

Again, I need to do a back of the envelope type computation for a definite answer, again my intuition is that the cyclone and storm surge effects will be less as compared to tsunamis. Certainly tsunamis have the potential to pull all this material back into the channel, if the orientation is right.

The basic question I will attempt to answer through an analytical analysis is simply this. Would storm surges and tsunamis have the energy to move the dredged material back into the channel? As I said earlier, my present feeling is, storm surges probably will not move much material, but tsunamis definitely would. I will try to quantify this in a couple of days.

As per the TPT's conclusion that no re-orientation of the eastern entrance of the channel is required, I absolutely disagree with it. I do not need to analyze that any more.

I have analyzed I now have more definite answers to your questions.

In spite of what the TPT says, there is a real threat to southern Kerala from future tsunamis from SSP.

At this time I do not have the resources to actually do a numerical model to determine the quantitative aspects of the movement aspects of the dredged material.

(However) I did some analytical analysis of whether cyclones (and storm surges) and tsunamis can move the dredged material from Palk Bay into the channel.

The impact from cyclones and storm surges will be minimal, but tsunamis can move a significant amount of the dredged material into the channel.

i won't it is a shame to do that. i will

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Navigating through SSCP NOT cost-effective: Capt. Balakrishnan

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2299884/SS...ts-and-Savings

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2297802/SS...gs-for-voyages

These two spreadsheets have been computed by Capt. Balakrishnan. The facts brought out are revealing and speak for themselves.

The conclusions put in question the assertions made in Setu project reports and in Baalu Committee report that SSCP will be a profit-making venture.

Out of a total voyage time ranging from 54.75 (Kochi-Chennai) to 261.0 (Aden to Kolkata), the savings in time range from 15.25 hours to 26.9 hours.

Fuel Cost savings, say, Rs. 5,55,069.1 for a voyage from Tuticorin to Kolkata will be offset by "Pilotage Charges".At the rates levied in Major Ports, the Pilot Charges could be as heavy as Rs. 50 lakhs per voyage. The conclusion is: "It is probable that circumnavigating Sri Lanka would be more cost effective."

These two spreadsheets put a big question mark on the financial viability of the project. Even by its own admission, the Committee has noted that Project authorities have erred in computing the navigable distance through the proposed Channel.

If additional security costs are taken into account, say, for the acquisition of naval vessels needed for coast-guarding the shallow (12 mt. Deep) mid-ocean channel, the project will not only be a white elephant for the nation, but also be a sick unit from day one and for a long, long time.

Hopefully, the justice system will take note of the claims made by the Govt. of India which are not based on facts and issue an injunction to scrap the project..

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http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/

'The Sethu Samudram does not make nautical sense'

October 01, 2007

Continuing our series on the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project, Shobha Warrier speaks to Captain (retired) H Balakrishnan of the Indian Navy to know a mariner's view of the project. Captain Balakrishnan has been associated with the navy for 32 years. He was one of the first batch of three Indian naval officers to do specialisation in anti-submarine warfare in the erstwhile USSR Naval War College. Out of interest, he did a study on the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project from a mariner's point of view. Ever since the series appeared in the Indian Express, the captain has been much sought after for his interesting calculations.


Why did you get interested in the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project?
I don't belong to any political party. It was purely a mariner's interest that made me research the project. There were many reports and statements in the media but I found that the mariner's point of view was not talked about at all. It is sad that even today the entire discourse on the project has got completely side tracked from the main issue; that is, the project is for ships and the shipping industry. As a mariner, how do you describe the Sethu Samudram project? The Sethu Samudram project, if I can put it simply from a mariner's stand point, does not make any nautical sense.

Why do you say so?
I have worked on the project from three different perspectives, all concerning the nautical world. I analysed the project in the backdrop of the environmental factors that would impinge the safety of the ship and also the safety of lives at sea. Number two was the security aspects which is maritime terrorism as it stands today. And the third was certain aspects of general navigation.

What does your research on the environmental factors say?
We mariners call the coast between Rameswaram and Cuddalore the cyclone coast. The India Meteorological Department has assigned this coastline as a high risk probability. To site one example, in 1964, the Pamban Bridge was washed away by a severe cyclonic storm.

A ship is safe when she is moving at the onset of a cyclone. Imagine a ship waiting to pick up its pilot as it approaches the Palk Straits to enter Sethu Samudram. No captain will wait for the pilot; his safety lies in heading south, towards Sri Lanka.

The wind and waves bring in a large amount of silt and wash it ashore. The same thing is going to happen to the Sethu Samudram Canal. This brings me to another point. Marine scientists have identified five areas on the Indian coastline they call high-sinkage pits, and one of them happens to be the Palk Straits. What is left unsaid by the Sethu Samudram authorities is that maintaining the 12 metre depth (of the channel) will entail round the year dredging. Once you establish the channel, you have to maintain it. You mean other than the capital expenditure, there will be maintenance expenditure too. Will that be expensive? Naturally. But this cost is not mentioned anywhere. This is the hidden cost which the authorities will have to pay to the dredging company. It is a high siltation and sedimentation area. So, what you pick up today is going to get filled up the next day.

What is the security threat you spoke about?
The Sea Tigers of the LTTE have control of that area off the Jaffna coast. What the Sea Tigers may do is difficult to say. Piracy exists even today.
Those who are against the project say the 12 metre depth of the Canal is not enough for big ships to pass through the canal.

As a mariner, what is your opinion on this?
It is quite true. If you take global shipping trends today, to reduce operating cost, they go in for larger ships of the order of 60,000 deadweight tonnes and above. A 60,000 deadweight tonne carrier will need anything in excess of 17 metres of draft. And as far as tankers go, the days of the super tanker are gone and you see only very large crude carriers of the type of 150,000 and 185,000 tonnes. It makes more sense to have such big tankers as in one voyage, you are bringing in more cargo and reduce your operating cost. None of these big ships will ever be able to use the Sethu Samudram.

So, the question is, for whom are you building the canal?
30,000 tonnes was alright when Sethu Samudram was conceived in the early fifties and the sixties. That leaves you with only the coastal bulk carriers that carry coal from Kolkata, Paradeep and Visakhapatanam to Chennai or Tuticorin.

How much time and money are saved if the ships go through the Sethu Samudram Canal instead of going round Sri Lanka?
I plotted physically on a chart what we call 'passage planning' for a bulk carrier on passage as it happens today from Kolkata to Tuticorin; one of them circumnavigating Sri Lanka as is happening today and the other one going through the canal. The voyage distance from Kolkata to Tuticorin around Sri Lanka works out to 1227 nautical miles. If you went through the canal, it is 1098 nm. So, you are saving just 120 odd nm.

The story doesn't end there. The majority of our bulk carriers go at a speed between 12 and 13 knots. That is the average speed at sea. I have checked with my friends who currently sail. They all said they do 12 knots. However, I worked in a bracket of 12-15 knots. So, if you are going around Sri Lanka at 12 knots at constant speed at sea, the time taken to reach outer anchorage at Tuticorin is 102 hours and 15 minutes. When you go through Sethu Samudram, the point to be remembered is, you cannot proceed at the speed at which you are sailing at sea. The reason is the shallow water effect or what we call the 'Squat Effect'. So, the moment you enter Sethu Samudram, you have to reduce the sped by 50 per cent or more depending on the conditions prevailing at that particular time. So, I worked on a speed bracket of 6-8 knots. But many of my friends tell me 8 knots is too high for a 30,000 tonne bulk carrier. In all my calculations, I gave the benefit of doubt to the Sethu Samudram project.

The second aspect is, it is not an open seaway; it is like entering a port. A pilot boards the ship, who is a local mariner with greater knowledge of the marine environment. The same thing has to be done at Sethu Samudram also. I have given one hour delay for the ship to reduce speed for the pilot to climb aboard. You repeat the process at the other end too for him to disembark.

With this 6 knots speed and 2 hours pilotage delay, my time to Tuticorin via Sethu Samudram works out to 100 hours 30 minutes. If you went around Sri Lanka, it is 102 hours 15 minutes! So, your net savings in time by going through Sethu Samudram is 1 hour 45 minutes! Is it worth spending Rs 2,400 crore to save 1 hour 45 minutes? You spoke of travel time. What about the cost?
The Sethu Samudram project from the media reports and the statement given by the finance minister will cost at Rs 2,400 crore, of which Rs 971 crore is through a special purpose vehicle. The debt portion has been pegged at Rs 1,465 crore. Assuming an interest burden of 10 per cent, the interest payment on Rs 1,465 crore is Rs 146 crore per annum. Twenty to 25 years is the time given for repayment.

Assuming 25 years for Rs 1,465 crore, capital repayment works out about 56 crore per annum. So, Rs 146 crore for interest burden and Rs 56 crore as repayment works out to roughly Rs 204 crore per annum which is what the authorities will have to repay to any financial institution. This is only to break-even. But the web site says it is a profitable industry and it is going to make 'mammoth profit'.

As the earning is going to come only from ships, I asked, how many ships are going to transit in a year through the canal?
Ships that can use the canal will be coal carrying bulk carriers as long as the Tuticorin thermal power plant exists. Having made the calculation, I feel they are rather optimistic in their figures. They have given a mean value of about 3,055 ships meant to use the canal in the year 2008 and by the year 2025, they expect it to go to in excess of 7,000 ships. Mind you, for 12 metres of depth! But I can't see more than 1,000 ships using the Sethu Samudram canal in a year.

If you take Rs 204 crore as annual repayment, and 1,000 ships use it, your per ship cost works out to Rs 22 lakhs pilotage charge to break even. There is an interesting comparison done by K S Ramakrishnan, former deputy chairman, Chennai Port Trust. He pegs around Rs 50 lakh as pilotage rate per ship if you have to make a; profit.

Then I calculated the fuel consumed. These ships consume 1 metric tonne of fuel per hour, which costs Rs 24,000. For the Sethu Samudram canal, you have to add the pilotage cost too. In effect, if a ship goes through the canal, a shipping company loses Rs 19 lakh per voyage. It is more cost effective to circumnavigate Sri Lanka from the point of view of the shipping industry.

Therefore, neither are you saving time nor is it viable economically. These are the two aspects that need to be highlighted. So, there is absolutely no advantage to the ships and the shipping industry. So, what are we gaining by spending Rs 2,400 crore of tax payers' money? It is a white elephant in the making.

So, you must be against realignment which some political parties are talking about. Any course, any realignment, is going to prove uneconomical to the shipping industry. If it is of no use to the shipping industry, why build it? You can bring about better economic progress to the southern districts of Tamil Nadu by building expressways. That is why I say the Sethu Samudram shipping canal project makes no nautical sense. That is the tragedy of the project.

Those who support the Sethu Samudram Canal compare it to the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal and say the Sethu Samudram is the Suez of the East. In the case of the Suez and the Panama canals, ships save thousands of nautical miles in sailing distance and hundreds of hours in sailing time vis-&-vis the Sethu Samudram where a ship will probably save a few hundred miles and at the most twohours in sailing time. This is the difference.

Peace is doable.

[pizzalot]

What you are saying is the most funniest of all Hindutva bafoon's propaganda. I cant believe am responding seriously. A few years before when I first read about the issues by RSS and VHP I was laughing. But now I am crying. How people can talk so seriously without laughing ? Are they retards ? It was onething for Snake Charmers' country to believe in these things and completely another for IT Hub of the world to believe these things like Rama constructed etc etc. Well atleast Subramaniam Swamy has become rich now.

Do you know any project needs clearance from Ministry of Environment & Forests ? National Environment Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur (NEERI), studied the Project before the scheme was created by the Center. Since the Project is close to International Waters even the Ministry Of Defence was consulted and a No-Objection obtained. All that by the NDA Government not the current one. (Are you saying that ships from Chennai to Mumbai need to go about Colombo and International waters and feel secure in International Waters rather than in our own ?) So the "Security" and "Environment" issues holds no water.

Dont you even worry about the "Cost-Benefit ratio". It is all being taken care of.

The only thing left in your argument is religion. Christians and Muslims do not have any problem with this Project. Probably we will name this as Adam Sethu Project or Noah's Project and they will be ok. But the Hindutvadis .. The Hindutvadis claimed that "the Bridge was Man-Made according to NASA". NASA itself said not. The so called brindge is no more than a pile of sand remenescant of a connection of land mass between Sri Lanka and India. Lies lies lies ! Why bring NASA and all here and then get humiliated ? You were telling people since age old days. With science do you think your stories will stand ?

Even assuming that Ram and other monkeys constructed the Sethu ..(?) what makes this piece of sand so special (all of a sudden after the announcement of the project) ? After-all Ram was walking from North to South enroute to Sri Lanka. So will you close all the roads and railways constructed along the way from North to South ? Will you declare every piece of rock and soil between North and South as religious and pigrimage center ?

I have just proved to you based on my above points that the opposition to the Sethu Project is for none other than political. The request for realignment etc etc is nothing but to delay the implementation of the project by another few years or so. I think people here are not as dumb as people from other places. They plainly see through the design.

May be the Government of India is only helping you to go and perform your pooja more easily. Subramaniyam Swamy says he goes there by boat and performs pooja. After the completion of the project not just him, all of us can go in a ship and perform the poojas.

Rama has really helped us to understand who is who now. Thank you Rama.

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First of all, go through my earlier posts carefully before coming up with Hindutva analysiss. I have mentioned that I am posting the articles/news that I came across which made me post about this project reg ecology/Tsunami and I am not subscribing to other issues in the articles. The articles or news may contain political affiliations which is totally irrelevant to the issue .

I am of the very strong opinion that Rama or for that matter any God does not require political patronage and on the contrary, the political parties are using religion only for their political purposes and we need not bother about them.

Now your post.
Sure. We should not believe the truth contained in the epigraphs, inscritptions and related records for this Ramar Sethu. But, we should believe the records of some kings/rulers when it suits us. Fine.

Clearance for the project was given by the agencies you are mentioning which I believe and any sensible person would understand, are part of Government of India. When those departments are under the Government, it is quite understood that they have to obey their masters or else those officials will forced to make a compulsory tour of our nation, by way of posting.

Why politics is brought in this. Did I ever mention that I talk on behalf of NDA . Who said that all done by NDA is right and current dispensation is otherwise. NDA takes the first blame for starting this project without seeing the pros and cons. All parties use some issue to keep them in public domain. Who cares for them. This is totally unwarranted in this topic. That comes out of your prejudiced mindset that whoever who opposes this project are so called Hindutava Brigade. What nonsense is this.

Just some one believes in god and believes in the cultural values and traditions, will he be branded as representing some party. If you read my previous posts(which u have not done apparently), in response to a post, I had clearly mentioned that Religion is meant for human betterment and I had quoted Swmi Vivekananda also( who I believe will be secular and not be brandished as Hindutva Baffon).

I am also made to realize that the oceanographic expert/navy experts whoever is talking about the negatives of this Project are Hindutva forces and they are not secular.

You are absolutely right when you said that cost-benefit ratio is being taken care of. Sure. Those concerned and those connected are taking care of things and all kinds of things.

Sure. NASA has gone back on its word. Wait till some time. You may see an announcement that the picture of bridge taken and released by them was actually taken from South Africa or Mars.

I also understand that by telling the stories of Ram, people have been waylaid and of course, the best example of this is Mahathma Gandhi who without any sense advocated for Ram Rajya( I shudder to think how the father of our nation will be branded) and who repeatedly insisted, unless, Ram Rajya is achieved, the Independence we have achieved is not complete. Not only that, there were scores and scores of senseless/shameless followers of this great soul who believed only what he said and who were waylaid by him.

Whether one place is special or extra special or extraordinary special depends on one’s own faith. If the bridge is used /cut for a good cause, real good cause meant for betterment, It should not be an issue for right thinking souls.

I am amazed by your interest to go and perfom pooja at the divine place. You should personally contact subramaniam swamy and ask him to arrange for a trip. Because nowadays, you know, the non-beleivers who make fun of all Gods go to temple of their choice or place of divinity without the knowledge of others and even temple will be kept closed during their visits. This type of scientific pooja and worship is worth emulating. Normal temple going stupid souls are from stone age.

Rama has helped not only you but millions of people to realise. See the beauty. Though you don’t accept the presence of the bridge or even Rama himself, he has made you to utter his name repeatedly. Rama (for that matter any God in any other form) does not differentiate. You may not care a damn about him but He is like a Mother who does not differentiate between children though some one may be affectionate/otherwise. You are so gracious to say Thank you,. Unfortunately, Rama cannot, say No mention please, since his presence is doubtful as per your science.

[Punnaimaran]

Dear wrap07,

For a change why don't you go to this link and read for yourself the other side of the story.

http://sethusamudram.info/content/view/16/26/

Regards
Punnaimaran

[wrap07]

Dear Punnaimaran,

Thanks a lot for your gesture. I will certainly go through the link and get to know the other views.


with kind regards
wrap

[pizzalot]

Rama has helped not only you but millions of people to realise. See the beauty. Though you don’t accept the presence of the bridge or even Rama himself, he has made you to utter his name repeatedly. Rama (for that matter any God in any other form) does not differentiate. You may not care a damn about him but He is like a Mother who does not differentiate between children though some one may be affectionate/otherwise. You are so gracious to say Thank you,. Unfortunately, Rama cannot, say No mention please, since his presence is doubtful as per your science.

You are absolutely correct. Rama will care about me no matter what. I am pretty sure about it. He does not want us to "take care of him". All he wants is we be taken care of. Has the epic anywhere asked you to protect "the bridge that Rama built" as a monument forever and ever ? Why are you imposing the burden on the common man ? He built it for his own personal reasons. Did he build it for the people ? Why are you expecting us to cherish the sethu then ? Now if the epic tells me that he has rescued a common man from a terrorist abroard then that kind of a thing will instill awe and inspiration in me. But all I heard was his kingdom was lost, his wife was kidnapped, and the monkeys helped him restore her, his vanavas was done and he got his kingdom back. It is all about him. Little reading on the Web about his public life did not convince me much to adulate him as an adult. Now where can I see the love that you say he has on a common man ? Sorry Mr Wrap. I did not get you.