With today’s development, the court concluded hearing on a batch of petitions opposing the project on various grounds, including religious and environmental. The verdict which has been reserved will, however, have to wait for the report of the committee of experts, the court said.

By suggesting it was not averse to the idea of abandoning the current Alignment No. 6 — this requires cutting through the Ram Sethu — in favour of Alignment No. 4 or any other alternative, if found economically, environmentally and technically viable, the Centre effectively managed to buy time for a decision on the project.

Alignment No. 4, with a little deviation from Dhanushkodi, cuts through the portion between Dhanushkodi and Land’s End on Rameshwaram Island, thereby leaving the Ram Sethu untouched — a point made on July 23 by the three-member bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan. Asking the Centre to consider an alternative alignment, the court had observed “if faith could be accommodated, all other issues would be sorted out.”

Today, after having sought instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office, Fali S Nariman, senior counsel for the Centre, gave the bench a copy of a letter informing “in pursuance of the observations made by the SC relating to the SSSCP, the Central government constitutes a Committee of Experts.”

The decision of constituting a new committee, the sixth after Independence, came after Nariman wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on July 24.

“The suggestion of Supreme Court for alternative alignment, including a canal cutting through the portion between Dhanushkodi and Land’s End on Rameshwaram island, has been given serious consideration in the government” was the PMO response.

“The committee will quickly examine the feasibility of the alternative alignment suggested by the Supreme Court for the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project between Dhanushkodi and Land’s End on Rameshwaram Island keeping in view the technical aspects, cost benefit analysis, social and cultural impact, environmental impact, law and order aspect and any other related matters.”

The experts committee, to be headed by Dr R K Pachauri, Director General of Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), has not specified any time-frame for submission of its final report. This gives the Government some time on the contentious issue. The Government order simply said “the committee shall submit its report as quickly as possible.”

According to the order by the Cabinet Secretary, others on the committee would be T Chakrabarti, Acting Director of Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), S R Shetye, Director of National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, S Kathiroli, Director of the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chief Hydrographer Rear Admiral B R Rao and Geological Survey of India’s Director General P M Tajale. Tamil Nadu Environment and Forest Secretary N Sundaradevan and Ramanathapuram District Collector R Kirtoshkumar would be “special invitees” to the committee.