On July 30, 2008, while reserving its verdict on the bunch of petitions challenging the execution of the Sethusamudram project, the Supreme Court had asked the  expert committee headed by environmentalist R K Pachauri to examine the feasibility of pushing the project through an alternative alignment running on land north of Dhanushkodi to avoid any damage to Rama Setu.    

It is fifteen months now and much water has flown under the bridge.  Now, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy has moved the court with an application seeking scrapping of the controversial Sethusamudram project claiming that the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) which is the expert body of the government has doubted its feasibility.

"Because you (government) are coming out with the report, the matter was kept pending for quite sometime. What he (Swamy) is saying is since the matter has been pending you have to dispose of with your stand," the Supreme Court Bench told Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval, who questioned Swamy's claims about the report. .

The court accepted the plea of the ASG for granting some more time to respond to the application and posted the matter for further hearing on December 11 and 12 by asking him to file proper response on the issue.    

The Pachauri Committee had outsourced the work of examining the feasibility of the project to NIO which had submitted its report to the government in March, Swamy said.
Apart from the environmental, economic, political and religious aspects, this project somehow seems to be jinxed from the very beginning.  A mysterious series of accidents had earlier stalled the work. First, the dredging vessel Duck6 sank. It was replaced by the Dredging Corporation of India’s biggest dredging vessel, but its spud broke. Another ship was then sent to retrieve the spud, but its crane snapped and crashed into the sea.

Then, due to judicial directions, work had to be stalled. Thereafter, the Minister who was enthusiastically directing its implementation did not find a place in the new Cabinet.Will the project ever see the light at the end of the tunnel?