NEW DELHI: The region where the mythological Ram Setu was found, cannot be accurately said to be the remnants of a bridge, Union minister Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

“Yes, to some extent, through space technology we have been able to discover pieces and islands, some kind of limestone shoals, which of course can’t be accurately said to be remnants or parts of a bridge,” minister of state for space Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha.

Jitendra Singh said this in response to BJP MP Karthikeya Sharma's question about whether any attempt is being made to conduct a scientific study of India's history.

“I am glad to share with him that the department of space is actually engaged in this…. As far as the question that was asked by him here concerning the Ram Setu, we have certain limitations in discovering that because the history dates back to more than 18,000 years and if you go by history, that bridge was about 56km long,” Singh added.

The UPA government had earlier formed a committee under environmentalist R.K. Pachauri to examine an alternative alignment for the Sethusamudram project.