New Delhi, July 29: Even as the possibility of an alternative alignment for the Sethusamudram project is still being considered, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that Rama Sethu does not fulfil the criteria to be declared a national monument. Senior counsel Fali S. Nariman, told the bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan that just because a structure was ancient it cannot be declared a national monument. "There are no guidelines for declaring a structure as a national monument. According to Section 7 of the Constitution, only the Parliament can declare a structure as a national monument when no objection has been received. It is not important that a structure is old but the government should be convinced that it is of national importance," he told the court. The senior counsel also said that the initiation for such a declaration could come only from the central government and the Supreme Court had no powers to direct the government to do so. Continuing the earlier stand on the existence of the bridge, Mr Nariman read out the verses of Kamba Ramayana (Tamil poetic version of the epic). He said according to official translation of the verses "Rama himself drew an arrow and broke the bridge to enable ships to pass" He, however, said that the Central government was sensitive to the religious sentiments of the people. "We agree with AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa's statements that it is an issue affecting the religious sentiments and faith of the people. That is why we have agreed to consider an alternative alignment," he said. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court gave an interim order staying dredging operations in August 2007. After hearing petitioners in May 2008 the Supreme Court had asked the government on why should not the Ram Sethu (believed to be the bridge constructed to rescue his wife Sita) be declared a national monument.