Nicaragua Canal route was recently proposed, and despite some setbacks and oppositions which are mostly for environmental reasons, the Nicaragua Canal route is approved.

According to The Wire, the $40 billion, 173-mile route Nicaragua Canal aims to bring shipping from the Caribbean Sea through to the Pacific Ocean and possibly lift the Central American country out of poverty.

Newsweek reports that there have been a lot of doubts regarding the proposed Nicaragua Canal. Many thought the project will never push through. Despite the uncertainties, the Nicaragua Canal route, which would link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and possibly change the platform for the world's trading routes, has reportedly been established.

Now, with the Nicaragua Canal route approved, the Chinese company hired to build the Nicaragua Canal is expected to begin construction as soon as December.

The construction company in charge of the building the canal is HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd. (HKND Group). The company is set to complete the Nicaragua canal in five years.

The proposed Nicaragua canal route reportedly cuts a path through Nicaragua, with its construction representing another opportunity for the country to reap the rewards which only a major shipping channel can grant a country. Having lost this opportunity more than a century ago, government officials hope that this time, the Nicaragua canal will actually double employment rates for the country's citizens - during and after construction.

According to Newsweek, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's vision for the Nicaragua Canal was to lift hundreds and thousands of Nicaraguans out of poverty. Certainly, because of the massive budget set for the project, each Nicaraguan wants the project's outcome only to bring prosperity to each individual in the country.

The Nicaragua Canal project aims to rival the Panama Canal as well. According to The Economist, the Panama Canal has revenues of $2 billion, and around $760 million of that goes to Panama's treasury. Meanwhile, the Nicaragua Canal was set at $40 billion.

Director Simon Bennett of external relations at the International Chamber of Shipping and the International Shipping Federations said his organization is taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the Nicaragua Canal.

Bennett said, 'Obviously, at a simple level it would provide competition to the Panama Canal that currently enjoys a quasi-monopoly. But that would all depend on whether or not a canal in Nicaragua will ever actually come to pass.'

Exactly how much the canal would charge for tolls is undoubtedly another question.

Still, hope remains that the Nicaragua Canal would bolster and develop niche markets.

Bennett said, 'One issue with the Panama Canal is that at certain peak times of the year, demands for use of the canal outstrip the available slots, particularly for trades that are carrying less high-value goods.'

Stating as an example ships carrying bananas heading for the U.S., Bennett said they are often outbid by large container ships which are scheduled and can pay the higher costs. Thus by creating alternative shipping routes, the Nicaragua Canal could actually provide an advantage for smaller markets.

Reports say that plans of the Nicaragua Canal construction was approved last year June 2013. HKND Group was granted exclusive rights to build and operate the canal under a 50-year lease.

It was only on Monday that the Nicaragua's National Assembly approved the Nicaragua Canal route.

Though hoping to provide an alternative route for smaller markets, officials insist there's no rivalry. The Nicaragua Canal project is now known to be 'the biggest engineering project in human history.'

The route of the Nicaragua Canal would begin at the mouth of the Brito River on the Pacific Coast, then flow towards the Punta Gorda River on the east.

Of course, there will be doubts and oppositions in any project, and the Nicaragua Canal is no exception. According to Newsweek, there still lays much skepticism regarding the project. Shannon O'Neil, senior fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations said with sarcasm, 'It's going to solve all of their problems.'

O'Neil told Newsweek, but now in a more serious tone, 'There's a real question of the feasibility on [building a canal] in Nicaragua. It's fine to approve the path, but there's lots of issues over the lakes it has to go through and the silting up of them, and the environment.'

O'Neil added, 'There's a question over the needed extra capacity. If Nicaragua is going to build theirs, are they going to take half the traffic that goes through the Panama Canal? Will the Panama Canal lower its rates? How will we see the competition there?'

Competition to both Latin American canals reportedly comes from the opening up of the Arctic due to global warming. O'Neil said this could cut up to two weeks off shipping time from Asia to Europe and at lower costs.

There's also environmental issues which makes environmentalists resist the Nicaragua Canal project despite its potential fir the country's economic growth.

Since Lake Nicaragua is the country's key source of fresh water, there could be problems with its effect on the lake, which also happens to be the largest lake in Central America.

The proposed route for the Nicaragua Canal shows a shipping channel running through the lake. Nature magazine has also warned of a probable environmental disaster and stated concern that HKND Group, headed by Chinese tycoon Wang Jing, has no obligation to reveal the results of its environmental surveys to the public.

Also, a report from the Associated Press portraying concerns with the Nicaragua Canal reads:

"While the new waterway - set to rival the Panama canal - has the support of the president, Daniel Ortega, and most Nicaraguans, many legal experts claim it violates the country's national sovereignty. Environmental experts warn construction could cause profound ecological damage by damming rivers, splitting ecosystems and moving untold tons of earth. Others fear the project is not economically feasible."

Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty explains other potential problems for the construction of the Nicaragua Canal. He said, 'Lake Nicaragua has the highest concentration of drinking water in Latin America.'

Nicaragua Canal, Chakrabarty said, could mean dire consequences and a tragedy for many Nicaraguans in the region. If transformed into a shipping route, it is highly like that Lake Nicaragua could no longer provide potable drinking water or freshwater for local agriculture.