Under the Narendra Modi government, there is a rapid development in all sectors in the country. It is reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India’s first vertical lift Pampan sea bridge on October 2. The newly constructed 2.05 km long railway bridge connecting Mandapam and Rameswaram across the Pak Strait will connect the island of Rameswaram with the mainland. A new rail bridge is being constructed at Rameswaram Pampan Sea at a cost of Rs 545 crore. With this, train service to Rameswaram will resume after a gap of 22 months. During his visit to Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister is expected to inaugurate several projects at the Chennai airport and other places.
This railway bridge was opened in 1914, connecting Rameswaram Pampan area and Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district. The bridge is designed to open and close as ships arrive. It remained the only link between Mandapam and Rameswaram until a parallel road bridge was constructed in 1988. This railway line was the main mode of transportation for the people of Rameswaram Island.
A large number of people from foreign countries and other states came to Rameswaram to see the beauty of the train passing over this serpentine bridge against the backdrop of the blue sea. Meanwhile, some repairs were being done on the century-old bridge. In this situation, 5 years ago, a ship collided in the middle of the Pampan Bridge. Due to this, train services stopped for months. The central government gave permission to construct a new bridge in place of this old bridge. After this, these works were started in 2019. Meanwhile, due to the outbreak of corona virus, the works were interrupted. When the train traffic through the old railway bridge was stopped, the train service was operated only up to “Mandapam” on the mainland.
Due to this, the tourists to Rameswaram are in trouble. Pampan Bridge is the first bridge in the country to open and close vertically. The new bridge has an air clearance of 22 meters above sea level, while the old bridge had a clearance of 19 meters. After completing the lift span system on the new Pamban Bridge, Southern Railway has successfully conducted a trial run. Railway officials told the media that all the safety checks will be completed in the coming days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the new bridge in November 2019.
