LONDON, UK (1 Dec 2008) — Conservation activists who want to protect the submerged cultural resources and marine species diversity of the Gulf of Mannar are campaigning to have it designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Campaigners told CDNN the controversial Sethusamudram shipping channel project threatens the Gulf of Mannar, a shallow stretch of water separating India from Sri Lanka. Ecologist Ranil Sennanayake said the Gulf of Mannar encompasses one of the world's most pristine marine ecosystems as well as the ruins of submerged ancient cities. "The Sethusamudram project will affect the cultural archaeology under sea and will affect biodiversity of the area," Sennanayake said. "It will adversely affect the supply of drinking water in both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coastal areas as villagers there depend on limestone aquifer wells for drinking water." Senanayake has logged hundreds of dives in the area and said he and other scientists have found ruins of several ancient cities including Mahabalipuram and Pumpoor. Conservationists, ecologists, archaeologists and religious scholars from India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, the US and Canada are meeting in London to push the governments of India and Sri Lanka to stop the proposed shipping channel project. | 
