Plea in Supreme Court seeks 'Ram Sethu' be declared as national monument

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking that the Ram Sethu be declared as a national monument.

The PIL, filed by advocate Ashok Pandey, also seeks construction of a wall at the spot to facilitate devotees.

On March 20, the top court had said that it will list at the earliest a petition by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking a direction to the Centre to declare the Ram Sethu as a national heritage monument.

Ram Sethu, also known as Adam's bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.

Swamy had raised the issue of declaring the Ram Sethu a national monument in his PIL against the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel project, initiated by the UPA-I government.

The matter reached the apex court, which in 2007 stayed work for the project on the Ram Sethu.

The Centre later said it had considered the "socio-economic disadvantages" of the project and was