The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : `Dhanuskodi will be reclaimed'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 07, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

`Dhanuskodi will be reclaimed'

By C. Jaishankar

DHANUSKODI, SEPT. 6. The decision of the Tuticorin Port Trust, nodal agency for implementing the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project, to reclaim the Dhanuskodi, religiously important place in the south, which was completely washed away during the 1964 cyclone, has raised people's hopes to see the glory of Dhanuskodi once again.

It is said, Dhanuskodi got prominence from the period of Lord Rama. Devout Hindus consider Adi Sethu (Dhanuskodi or arrowhead) a sacred place to perform religious rites.

It is the confluence of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal (known as Ratnakaran and Mahodadhi). Pilgrimage to Kashi will be completed only after worship at Rameswaram, besides a holy bath at Dhanuskodi.

However, performance of obsequies and immersion of ashes cannot be done as Dhanuskodi got washed away in the cyclone.

Road, rail route

Though the pilgrims and others have been demanding the road and rail route to the holy place relayed to give it a facelift, successive governments could not take up the project for various reasons.

But, the hopes of pilgrims were renewed in the form of the Sethusamudram project.

A senior official of the Tuticorin Port Trust told The Hindu that 7-8 million cubic metres of dredged soil including silt, clay and sand would be disposed after following safety procedures at the nearby Dhanuskodi area, where remnants of the railway station, temple, church and other settlements were mute witnesses of the devastating cyclone.

The reclamation work will yield around 2,000 acres of usable land including washed away areas of old Dhanuskodi. The area could be utilised for laying a new road, constructing a building, relaying rail track, setting up a harbour and creating jetties.

However, the reclamation work needs clearance from various agencies and the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The plan enthused pilgrims, who are coming to Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi.

They even started demanding the State and Central Governments to create a fullfledged holy Dhanuskodi including provision of electricity.

V. Srinivasan (71) from Srirangam in Tiruchi district, who visited the tip of Arichalmunai, part of Dhanuskodi along with his family by paying Rs. 30 per head for a four-wheel drive vehicle, said it was good to know the news about revival of the island. "If the Government takes steps to rebuild the city by providing facilities, the people across the country will welcome it wholeheartedly," he said.

Boost to tourism

The reclaim efforts will also give a boost to the tourism industry. Though there is a 18-km long beach from Rameswaram to Dhanuskodi, there is no road facility for the tourists to reach selected places and enjoy the natural beauty of the Indian Ocean on one side and the calm Bay of Bengal on the other. Once the road is relaid, the beach will attract tourists.

If the proposed project comes true, Dhanuskodi will be of the top tourist-pilgrimage destination in the south.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu