The Supreme Court directed the Centre to place before it the report of Prime Minister- appointed expert panel on the feasibility of building an alternative shipping channel through Dhanuskodi instead of Ram Sethu around the country's southern tip.
A bench comprising justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad also asked the government to supply the report of the panel, headed by noted environmentalist R K Pachauri, to the various parties for and against building of navigational sea route around the country's southern peninsula.
The six-member panel headed by Pachauri had been formed in July 2008 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to find a solution to the controversy over the Rs-2,240 crore Sethu Samudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP).
SSCP proposes linking Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping channel through the shallow sea and a chain of islands known as 'Ramar Sethu' and Adam's Bridge.
The project was flagged off in 2005 but later met opposition following a decision to dredge 'Ramasethu', believed to have been constructed by Lord Ram to cross to Sri Lanka.
