The India-Sri Lanka Bridge
– a new initiative needed

A spectacular view of the Pamban Bridge reader Sudha Umashankar spotted on the Internet.

On June 30th/July 1st, the visual and print media announced

the inauguration of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) in Mumbai as the first bridge built in India across the sea. Almost exactly a century earlier, to be more specific in 1914, the Pamban viaduct, the first bridge in the open sea, connecting Rameswaram Island with the mainland, was commissioned by the South Indian Railway. Though the 2-km (6776 feet) length project now appears to be a pilot project or a toy bridge, it was an engineering marvel at that time. Much later, in 1988, a road bridge was built parallel to it in the open sea.

On October 2, 1988, the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, dedicated to the nation the Pamban road bridge named after his mother, Indira Gandhi, as Annai Indira Gandhi Palam (AIGP). The event took place in the remote village of Mantapam from where the bridge starts to reach Pamban village on Rameswaram Island. Media announced the event as “Poet Bharati’s dream come true” little realising what the poet had dreamt. His vision was the mammoth bridge to Singala Thivu (Sri Lanka), something akin to mythological Rama Sethu. Pamban Bridge was only a first step in the long hop, step and jump. At a special media meet it was explained that, compared to what the poet dreamed, the present

achievement was just like a prologue to a great epic. At best we could say the completion of the Pamban Bridge brought the poet’s dream into the realm of the possible.

Since then I have been crusading the cause of a causeway or bridge between India and Sri Lanka. In the conference on ‘Our World in Concrete Structures’ held in Singapore in1995 a paper on the need for this bridge was presented. Then in the booklet Bridge Building – A Way of Life – The Story of Pambam Bridge, brought out by the Indian Concrete Institute in 1996, there was an epilogue which outlined the feasibility of this bridge. Thereafter in many international fora the importance of this structure was brought out. But the cry fell on ears deafened by the roar of guns in the island nation.

Then, at the beginning of this century, a ray of hope was seen.There was a peace accord in Sri Lanka and the guns went silent. The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, which is older than the Institution of Engineers, India, joined hands with Tamil Nadu centre of the IEI and organised an event on India-Sri Lanka Cooperation in Technologies for Development held in Chennai in 2001. At that meet I explained how a bridge between India and Sri Lanka would facilitate economic development much faster.

A year later, in 2002, IESL invited the Tamil Nadu centre of IEI to organise a joint seminar on an India-Sri Lanka Land Bridge. The event was held on August 31, 2002 in Colombo. The event (Continued on page 7) itself was a sequel to the interest evinced and the initiative taken by the then Prime Minster of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, in a land bridge. He visited India 2-3 times and persuaded his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee to agree to carry out a joint feasibility study on such a bridge. In fact, the Sri Lankan Board of Investments had already carried out a preliminary pre-feasibility conceptual study.

On August 23, 2003, while delivering the millennium lecture for The Hindu Media Research Centre for Sustainable Development and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Ranil Wickremesinghe stated: “A land bridge between Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Talaimanar in Sri Lanka would be a major step towards sub-regional economic integration and would offer both sides of the Palk Strait huge economic benefits.”

But soon political shadows and renewed armed conflict loomed over the atmosphere. But when the guns became silent the present Sri Lankan Government and President Mahinda Rajapakse committed themselves to reconciliation and development in the North. As such it is time to revisit the bridge project. Geographers call the stretch of land/sea between Pamban Island in India and Mannar Island in Sri Lanka as Adam’s Bridge. It is a narrow ridge of sand and rock, mostly dry, which connects Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar. It is about 30 km running east of southeast from Dhanushkodi. It is mostly composed of shifting sandbanks with intricate channels in between, in which the depth of water varies from .6 m to 20 m. Waves cover nearly 20 km of the 30 km during monsoon periods and about 17 km during non-monsoon periods, the rest of the distance being sandy islands.

This topography attracted many people much before poet Bharati dreamt of a bridge to Singala Thivu (Sri Lanka). In the late 19th Century, Edward J. Young studied the possibility of establishing a rail link between the Madras Presidency and Ceylon. Of course his objective was to make the journey for labour to and fro as easy, cheap and attractive as possible. After interacting with various officials in Madras Presidency and South Indian Railway he was able to get a commitment from William S. Betts, Managing Agent, South Indian Railway, at Trichnolopoly on March 4, 1892 as under:

“I believe there would be no difficulty in raising the capital required for the construction of the railway upon the united guarantee of the governments of Ceylon and Madras to pay four per cent interest thereon and South Indian Railway would be willing to undertake the work.”

Edward J. Young, however, could not succeed in getting clearance for this project as Sir A.E. Havelock, the then Governor of Ceylon, was personally averse to the scheme and considered that its completionmight lead to the annexation of Ceylon to India.

In spite of this setback South Indian Railway continued its efforts to make Ceylon as easily reachable as possible. And it did so with the Pamban Bridge. Now it is time to take Bharati’s dream further.

The civil war in Sri Lanka that lasted a generation has now come to an end. There is no hurdle to pursuing the project. Public opinion has to be mobilised in favour of this bridge in both the countries. Media has a large role to play in this direction. The completion of BWSL provides proof to our technical competence and capability. While the sea link in Mumbai eases the trarffic congestion on a specific route in that city, this bridge will facilitate two nations becoming more prosperous.

President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka has repeatedly reiterated his personal commitment to project of reconciliation and development. This bridge should form part of the development project.

“Let’s build a common future, from our common past. All it requires is imagination, leadership and the commitment to break off the shackles of the past…. To make our people rich”. Let us build this friendship bridge at this opportune moment.

D. Srinivasan
39 (T13/A) Sixth Avenue
Besant Nagar
Chennai 600 090

Gender confused

In T.K. Srinivasa Chari’s write-up about Nirmala Lakshman’s book Degree Coffee (MM, February 16th), after the first mention of her as Nirmala Lakshman, the authoress is subsequently referred to as ‘Lakshman’. Surely it is Nirmala’s father’s name or husband’s name. Referring to her again and again as ‘Lakshman’ is irritating. Let the surnames be there for the rest of the world. In Chennai, let us refer to the person by his or her own name because that is how it should be. If the author of Degree Coffee is addressed with a man’s name, it particulary irritates an old Madras hand like me because it confuses the gender.

C. G. Prasad
9, C.S. Mudali Street
Kondithope, Chennai 600 079

Curative culture

Regarding the article ‘Beyond Botany to Medicare’ (MM, March 1st), which stated that smoking ‘stramonium’ cured asthma, I was reminded that decades ago an MBBS medical practitioner cured asthma with an injection of one-day culture of the patient’s blood and urine. The procedure cured me of my chronic allergic rhinitis.

S.N. Mahalingam
64-A, Kalamegam Street Extn.
SBI Colony II Street
Kamarajapuram, Chennai 600 073

A Chitale theatre

My father P.C.Subba Raju built a cinema theatre in Tenkasi. The architect was none other than L.M.Chitale (MM, March 1st). The project was started in 1947 and completed in1952. Following discussions, two black granite pillars were added to support the balcony which gave an imposing look to the theatre. The theatre was named Bharathan Talkies by none other than Rajaji and Kalki. It was opened in 1952 by K.V.L.RM. Ramanathan Chettiar with a musical concert by the great M.S.

Dr. P. S. Venkateswaran
surgeonvenkat@yahoo.com