C. Jaishankar Work under way off Nagapattinam coast extremely satisfactory No dredging work in the north of Adam's Bridge Port in Rameswaram to come up at a cost of Rs.95 crore RAMANATHAPURAM: Dredging work of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP), except in the north of Adam's Bridge area, will be completed well before April 2009, said K. Suresh, Chairman and Managing Director, Sethusamudram Corporation Limited. Speaking to The Hindu after presiding over a Board of Directors meeting of the Corporation held at Mandapam, the proposed headquarters, he said the work being undertaken off the Nagapattinam coast was extremely satisfactory. Six dredgers of the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) and chartered dredgers were engaged in it. "April 2009 is the targeted schedule for the completion of work. Going by the speed of the work, I can say that it will be completed well in advance.' Parrying questions over the Adam's Bridge site, where the Supreme Court has stayed the dredging work, Mr. Suresh hoped that the outcome would be positive. He said no dredging work had been taken up in the north of Adam's Bridge after the Supreme Court stay. Harbour project He along with the Board of Directors, including Rakesh Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Ports), and A.R. Goyal, Director (Finance), Ministry of Shipping, had visited several areas to select a location for setting up a harbour on the Rameswaram island and administrative buildings for the headquarters. The port would come up near Kothandaramar Temple at a cost of Rs.95 crore. It could be used for maintenance, service and other purposes. Mr. Suresh said the State government had allotted 4 acres of land at Mandapam for constructing an administrative building and another 4 acres for residential quarters. A sum of Rs.31 crore had been earmarked for this. A total of 413 houses would be constructed, 45 of them initially. Tendering process had started. The foundation stone would be held in a month.