Proposal to Dredge a Ship Passage in the Palk Strait Hits Rough Seas

A proposal to make the shallow strait between India and Sri Lanka navigable has upset environmentalists and the port of Colombo. To its supporters, it is a dream project, no less than the “Suez of the East.” To its opponents it would be an environmental catastrophe. Either way, plans to dredge a channel in the seabed between India and Sri Lanka will be controversial, and could alter maritime and military operations in the Indian Ocean.