Subramanian Swamy reached Supreme Court to get the status of National Monument to Ram Setu, sought reply from the Center:

News Topical, Digital Desk : The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre on a petition filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on the delay in declaring Ram Setu as a national monument. Swamy has said in his petition that Ram Setu is a matter of faith and devotion of the people. The government should take immediate steps to protect it from any kind of misuse, pollution or disrespect.

The hearing will be held again after four weeks

The petition also demands a survey of Ram Setu by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). While hearing the petition, a bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued a notice to the Center. The hearing will be held again after four weeks. In his petition, Swamy has cited the order passed by the apex court on January 19, 2023.

Then the Center had told the apex court that it was considering the issue related to declaring Ram Setu as a national heritage monument. On this the court had disposed of Swamy's interim petition.

Why did Swamy file a new petition? In the new petition on behalf of Swamy, it has been said that since January 2023 till date, neither he nor the Supreme Court has been given any reply or information about the decision.

A new request was sent to the Ministry of Culture

The petition states that it is important to note that this archaeological site is a matter of faith and devotion of the people, who consider Ram Setu as a pilgrimage site. All these archaeological studies and scientific discoveries are the basic evidence proving the existence of this man-made monument as a pilgrimage site. Swamy said that a new request was again sent to the Ministry of Culture on May 13 this year.

what is ram setu

There is a chain of interlinked limestone rocks between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram, located on the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu and Mannar in Sri Lanka. Geologists believe that earlier this chain was above the sea. One could walk through it to Sri Lanka. In Hinduism, it is believed to be a bridge built by Lord Ram's monkey army. Some other religions of the world also believe that this structure was man-made. It is also called Adam's Bridge.

Under the Sethusamudram project started during the reign of the Congress-led UPA government, there was a plan to demolish Ram Setu to make way for ships. In this project, an 83 km long channel was to be built to connect Mannar and Palk Strait, for which large scale digging was to be done. Later, this action was stopped after the intervention of the court. Since then, there has been a demand to declare Ram Setu a national monument.