New Delhi , Jan 28 (ANI): The Supreme Court has asked former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to approach competent authorities for declaring the Ram Sethu a monument of national heritage.

Jayalalithaa, in her petition, had sought the courts direction to authorities to take alternative routes for completing the project without demolishing the Ram Sethu.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Tarun Chatterjee and R V Raveendran said it was not the job of this court to decide about the status of a monument.

Hindu groups have called on the government to stop the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, saying it will demolish the mythical bridge linking India and Sri Lanka , believed to have been built by King Ram of Ayodhya.

Opposing the 560 million dollars project, the Hindu groups claim it would destroy the 48- kilometre chain of limestone shoals that once linked Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to Mannar in Sri Lanka .

The Sethusamudram Project will dredge a channel along a narrow strip of sea between India and Sri Lanka , reducing distances and cutting costs for freight traffic.

According to the Central Government, the sand shoals were created by sedimentation.

Dredging for the project began in 2005 and the channel — 12 metres deep, 300 metres wide and almost 90 km long — will provide a crucial link between the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar . (ANI)