Dhanushkodi Awaits Rail Line But Project in ‘Ghost Town’ May Be Shelved over Tamil Nadu Govt’s Order

Dhanushkodi was well-connected Indian town until 1964 and was considered as a major point of entry to the country. However, after the tragic 1964 cyclone, the flourishing city got a new name — ‘Ghost Town’. Some 55 years later, the Indian Railways announced in 2018-19 that a new railway line between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi will be built. Survey was done, line was approved and funds were also sanctioned. But the town still awaits a train.

According to the Railway ministry, the land acquisition process was initiated in 2021-22 but now the state government has urged the Centre to drop the project as the region is “ecologically very sensitive”.

Confirming the development to News18, a Ministry official said land acquisition under the project could not be done due to the state government.

“We have received a letter from the state (Tamil Nadu) government that the project region is ecologically very sensitive and they have asked us to drop this project,” the official said.

The 17 km new line project is now stuck as the Railways is not able to get the land, the official added.

The project cost has already jumped by three times – from around Rs 210 crore in 2018-19 to about Rs 735 crore now. During the current financial year, over Rs 385 crore was kept for this line, the official added.

“This project is for the benefit of the region and without the help of the state government, we will not be able to do anything,” they said.

After 1964, the town has not been reestablished and tourists can only stay there until sunset. Only limited people are settled there most of whom are from the fishermen community.

The cyclone not just washed away the town but also an entire train with 115 people onboard and also destroyed the Pamban bridge that connected the mainland of India to the Rameswaram island. Dhanushkodi is the southernmost tip of the Rameswaram island.

What we saw today is the restored version of the bridge. While the train connectivity to Dhanushkodi was not given priority, the case was different with the Pamban Bridge.

Considered to be the lifeline that connected temple town Rameswaram to the mainland, the Pamban Bridge was restored in 45 days by famous engineer E. Sreedharan.

New Pamban Railway Bridge Next Month

Work on the new 2.05 km Pamban railway bridge is almost completed, after missing several deadlines. “The new Pamban Bridge will be ready by next month,” an official told News18, requesting anonymity.

The existing Pamban rail bridge is more than a 100 years old. It was originally built in 1914 to connect Mandapam to Rameswaram island on Gulf of Mannar. The two ends were only connected by a railway line until a new parallel road was built in 1988.

The new rail bridge is parallel to the old rail bridge and will replace it post inauguration.

This will be India’s first vertical lift railway sea bridge being executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd for Rs 535 crore.

After its inauguration, the Indian Railways can operate trains at a higher speed as well as increase the traffic between the mainland Tamil Nadu and Rameswaram island.