The plan to construct a bridge connecting Sri Lanka and India will suffer the same fate as the Sethu Samurdram project due to environmental issues, a minister said yesterday.

Highways and Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella said the proposed bridge would never materialise as it would adversely affect the marine environment.

The minister made this comment with regard to a recent allegation by the joint opposition that the Sri Lankan government had given the go-ahead for the project.

He said the government had no interest in such a bridge as there was no need for it. “A bridge between Sri Lanka and India is not needed at all,” he said; adding that Sri Lanka should rather concentrate on constructing roads within the country. “Preparation of the ground for the Colombo -- Kandy Highway has already begun and construction work is due begin early next year. Work on the Northern Highway will begin before the end of 2016,” he said.

In response to a journalist who asked him what the government would do if the India insisted on constructing the highway, he said the Indian government had not insisted so far and was not likely to in the future because of environmental concerns.

He asked why the opposition believed the Indian minister’s version though Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had stated in Parliament that there was no move to build such a bridge. Indian media had earlier quoted Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadikari as saying his country was planning to construct an Indo -- Lanka bridge at a cost of US$ 5 billion. (Yohan Perera)