Pamban bridge will go down in history; PM Modi to inaugurate Rameswaram vertical rail bridge on April 6

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Rameswaram Bridge on April 6, coinciding with the auspicious Ram Navami festival. PM Modi will visit the Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple.

Train service will resume through the bridge, which was closed for long reconstruction works. After completing his official tour of Sri Lanka on April 4 and 5, PM Modi will reach Rameswaram directly from the island nation. The project, completed at Rs 535 crore, was executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). The railway bridge runs from Ramanathapuram Mandapam to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

This is India's first vertical lift rail bridge built to allow ships to pass through. The new bridge replaces the Pamban Bridge, the infamous one that turned Dhanuskodi into a ghost town during the 1964 cyclone, taking the lives of 115 passengers. The new bridge was scheduled to be inaugurated last October. It was postponed after the Railway Safety Commissioner pointed out some defects in the construction.

Safety has been ensured by raising the span of the bridge. A Coast Guard ship was allowed to sail through it after which the span was lowered, aligning the bridge. Soon, a train passed through the bride, completing the tail run. Travel between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi will not be arduous anymore.

This bridge, over two kilometers long, replaces the older bridge built in 1914.