Rameswaram: Even as the Indian Railways has taken steps to renovate the over 100-year-old ‘Pamban rail bridge’, an engineering marvel as India’s first lifting cantilever bridge on the Palk strait connecting Rameswaram island to the mainland, various fishermen’s associations have urged that the height of the bridge be raised by two metres as part of the renovation.
Built in 1914, the historic ‘Pamban rail bridge’ is 2.06 km long is the second longest sea bridge in the country and was built under very tough conditions where the sea is rough and unpredictable. The two lift spans of the bridge, when they open up, they enable smaller vessels and ships to pass through. Under the suggestion of former President, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, who hails from Rameswaram, the rail bridge was strengthened for gauge conversion in 2007 and further strengthened for moving goods traffic also in the year 2009. Now the Railways have prepared a plan to modernize the rail bridge at a cost of Rs 50 crores using non-corrosive steel, said sources here.
In this backdrop, local fishermen’s representatives in Pamban and nearby coastal areas have expressed various difficulties about the present functioning of the bridge. They say that there are several days when the two lift spans are unable to lift and hence it impedes the livelihood of fishermen whose boats could pass underneath only when spans lift up.
Pamban panchayat president, M Patrick said that while there were about 100 mechanised fishing boats at Pamban, the present arrangements were not helpful for the fishermen who have been asked to pay a toll every time their boats pass through.
“There are occasions when fishermen of Pamban and Rameswaram have to wait for few days for the spans to life to enable them go for deep sea fishing,” he said. Hence, Mr Patrick said when the bridge was being renovated, if its height could be raised by two metres, then fishermen would be able to pass through at anytime of the day, without having to wait for the two spans to life. This would also help the Naval and Coast Guard boats undertake their surveillance activities more effectively, he opined.
Echoing similar suggestion, Mr S Wilson, another fishremen’s body representative here said that if the height of the rail bridge was raised by two metres, taking advantage of its entire renovation, then the unhindered passage for small ships and boats would also improve the livelihood earnings of local fishermen.
