Commercial by Head, Wrighton & Co. in Christmas subject of The Engineer, 1914.
Courtesy: Arup Ok. Chatterjee.
Legend has it that Ram Setu-better recognized formally as Adam’s Bridge-is mentioned to have been constructed by Lord Ram’s military, comprising commander Hanuman and the chief architect Nala. The enchanted construction lies between Dhanushkodi in India’s Tamil Nadu and Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka’s Mannar Island. The epic chapter within the Valmiki Ramayan in regards to the building of the bridge has impressed generations of artists, cultural thinkers, and establishment builders. Fascinatingly, the Nineteenth-century British colonial administration was additionally impressed by the traditional lore because it mulled over the potential of bridging India and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon).
Historical past Comes Full Circle
In Hind Swaraj (1909), Mahatma Gandhi referred to the farseeing ancestors who had constructed the ‘Shetbandhai’ (Ram Setu/Adam’s Bridge) close to Rameswaram to create faraway pilgrimage routes in order to instil patriotism by encouraging folks to study extra in regards to the Indic geography since historical occasions. 5 years later, in 1914, the identical colonial administration that had banned Gandhiji’s guide heaped praises on a monument of their building, very near Ram Setu. In February 1914, the Pamban Bridge was inaugurated with nice pomp. In the course of the inaugural speeches, the Governor of Madras, the Governor of Ceylon, and the Managing Director of the South Indian Railway Firm paid lavish tributes to Valmiki Ramayan and its hero, Lord Ram, priding themselves in constructing the ‘second’ Ram Setu.
On October 2 – Gandhiji’s start anniversary – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the newly reconstructed Pamban Bridge, historical past will come full circle. However as we glance to the way forward for the Pamban Bridge, a deep dive into its previous can be so as, lest we overlook that the bridge may not even have been constructed in any respect.
The reconstructed Pamban Bridge, because of be inaugurated on October 2
Picture Credit score: Southern Railways
Why The British Have been So Keen
Within the early nineteenth century, the 2 territories of British India and Ceylon have been to be linked by a navigable marine channel throughout the Palk Strait, or the area of shallow waters also referred to as Sethusamudram. By the 1860s-if not earlier-it grew to become amply clear to the British administration that this sea passage can be tough to construct because of financial and environmental causes that made dredging and sustaining a canal round Adam’s Bridge almost unimaginable. By the tip of the Eighteen Eighties, the makers started rethinking their plan and considered as a substitute establishing an overland railway bridge between Mandapam and Rameswaram that might hopefully be prolonged to Ceylon.
There have been two principal causes for the colonial administration’s eagerness to construct the railway bridge between mainland India and Rameswaram Island. The primary was that on January 1, 1880, a brand new railway route was inaugurated between Madras and Tuticorin -on the route of the present-day Pearl Metropolis Categorical-with a 24-hour-long steamer connection to Colombo. Naturally, the administration needed to reap the benefits of the momentum of this engineering exploit. The second purpose was associated to the site visitors of staff from the Madras Presidency to Ceylon. Lots of them have been recruited to work in Ceylonese tea plantations owned by Lipton’s, Mazawattee, and different main tea firms. This was a significant purpose as a result of, by the tip of the Eighteen Eighties, the joint exports of Indo-Ceylonese tea varieties to Britain overtook Chinese language tea exports within the face of elevated Sino-British diplomatic unease.
Between 1893 and 1905, the South Indian Railway Firm carried out surveys each of Adam’s Bridge and Rameswaram Island. These corroborated the unfeasibility of dredging Adam’s Bridge, whereas having a railway connection was more and more deemed worthwhile. This connection would run between mainland India and Rameswaram, and additional between Dhanushkodi and Colombo, by way of Thalaimannar, by means of a ferry service in between. By then, in 1902, work had already begun on what would later grow to be the two,065-metre cantilever bridge throughout the Pamban Move. Railwaymen who had earlier labored on Himalayan railways have been recruited for its building, whereas prefabricated elements have been imported from Britain, and 143 erected pillars and a Scherzer rolling bascule-designed on the know-how patented by American engineer William Scherzer-were to be later integrated within the centre to allow the passage of ships.
An Engineering Marvel
In 1907, the South Indian Railway’s chairperson, Sir Henry Kimber, was petitioned by a delegation of British Ceylonese tea industrialists, who inspired him to plot a greater communication technique between the 2 territories for seamless site visitors of Indian staff. The assembly paved the best way for additional discussions between Secretary of State Lord Morley, Colonial Secretary Lord Elgin, and officers of the Ceylon Authorities Railway Firm. As work for the connection of Mandapam with Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi was already underway by now, the corporate agreed to undertake the constructing of a virtually 70-mile department line from Madawachiya to Thalaimannar.
Since Adam’s Bridge couldn’t be conquered by means of a canalisable passage throughout the shallow straits, the colonial administrations of India and Ceylon hoped to make use of a unique technique to tame the oceanic marvel that separated the 2 territories by 21 miles. It was believed that if a railway bridge may very well be constructed between Dhanushkodi and Thalaimannar over a stable embankment, regularly the Adam’s Bridge area would accumulate far better precipitation of sand, limestone, and coralline detritus, which may result in the formation of an overland terrain connecting the 2 islands naturally. With this hope, the South Indian Railway performed one other survey, in 1913, to check the feasibility of a bridge between Dhanushkodi and Thalaimannar, spanning somewhat over 20 miles-about 7.2 miles of that survey lined the shallow sands of the scattered reefs, and the remaining, water.
When World Struggle Struck
Lastly, as a Massachusetts-based newspaper, The Newton Graphic, reported on July 17, 1914 , “To facilitate the work of sinking the bridge cylinders, a synthetic island, made from coral boulders and concrete in sacks, was created, one on both sides of the stretch of water.” Whereas the coralline reefs posed no obstruction to the development, the elements of the bridge over the ocean have been deliberate to be aided by a twin row of strengthened concrete pillars joined by mild concrete arches, chains and transverse ties, with strengthened concrete slabs connected behind the pillars, and the underside slabs submerged within the oceanic mattress.
The peak of the proposed Indo-Ceylonese railway bridge was estimated to be six toes above sea stage, supposedly encouraging sand and coralline deposits that might finally quantity to a brand new, synthetic island, connecting the islands of Rameswaram and Mannar. The projected value of the bridge was Rs. 111 lakh. Nonetheless, the First World Struggle befell the world, and the plans for this bridge got up in favour of the Pamban Bridge. As an alternative, two piers every have been constructed at Dhanushkodi and Thalaimannar for a steamer service connecting the railways of the 2 territories. One among these was constructed on the north facet, for months of the southwest monsoon, and one other was constructed on the south facet, for months of the northeast monsoon. Initially, this steamer service was supposed to convey all the practice, however later, the plan was altered to make it a passenger service.
Dhanushkodi, The Port Metropolis
In February 1914, the Pamban Bridge was lastly inaugurated. The bridge was designed by the Scherzer Rolling Raise Bridge Firm of Chicago and constructed by Britain’s Head, Wrightson & Co. Ltd. of Thornaby-on-Tees. In the course of the inauguration, the Governor of Madras, the Governor of Ceylon, and the Managing Director of the South Indian Railway Firm paid lavish tributes to the Valmiki Ramayan and Lord Ram. Given the form of speeches that these colonial officers delivered and the type of media protection that the occasion garnered in India, Britain, and America, the British imperial administration appeared to satisfaction itself on having just about authored a brand new Indian epic on the strains of the Ramayan.
On March 1, Dhanushkodi grew to become a brand new port, enabling imports of numerous gadgets from South India, which have been then to be exported to Ceylon and past. A brand new practice service was launched from Madras to Dhanushkodi, which was in flip linked to Thalaimannar by a 22-mile ferry route. The mixed train-and-ferry service was named the Ceylon India Boat Mail Categorical, which quickly rose to eminence. The Boat Mail was to be the precursor to the colonial railway bridge throughout the Adam’s Bridge that the British regime stored planning however may by no means execute.
Battered By Storm
The Boat Mail operated for 5 many years till December 22, 1964, when a lethal cyclone hit the coast of Dhanushkodi and engulfed the railway tracks, together with a practice that was then crossing the Pamban Bridge. On that deadly evening, the six-coach Pamban-Dhanushkodi Passenger (No. 653) left Pamban station at 11.55 pm with about 115 passengers, together with schoolchildren and railway employees. Lower than an hour later, the sign at Dhanushkodi went awry. The motive force took what would show to be the most costly gamble of his life. The hysterical sea despatched forth a big 20-foot wave that destroyed the practice, leaving not a single passenger alive to inform the ghastly story of that overland Titanic. It’s believed that the precise loss of life toll was a lot increased than the official variety of passengers travelling that evening since a number of ticketless passengers have been on the practice that by no means reached Dhanushkodi – a thriving metropolis that itself grew to become a ghost city after the cyclone handed over. Whereas a portion of the engine may very well be seen jutting out from the water’s floor the following day, picket fragments from the practice’s compartments washed ashore on the Lankan facet of the Sethusamudram sea.
Nonetheless, restoration was fast to comply with after the 126 pillars of the Pamban Bridge that have been destroyed by the cyclone have been salvaged from the ocean. This feat was executed below the watch of the restoration venture’s chief engineer, E. Sreedharan, who accomplished the reconstruction of the bridge in three months, a lot earlier than his deadline of six.
Such are the legends of the bridge that was nearly by no means going to be constructed, within the first place.
[Arup K. Chatterjee is the author of The Great Indian Railways (2017, 2019), Indians in London (2021), and Adam’s Bridge (2024)]
Disclaimer: These are the private opinions of the writer