The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : "Adam's Bridge, nothing but a geological formation"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

"Adam's Bridge, nothing but a geological formation"

Special Correspondent

It existed even before human beings reached Rameswaram, say professors

MADURAI: The Adam's Bridge that connects Dhanushkodi with Talaimannar in Sri Lanka came into existence much before human beings settled in Rameswaram, the Tamil Nadu Science Forum (TNSF) has said.

Addressing a press meet here on Tuesday, a group of professors from Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) and colleges in the southern districts asserted that the Adam's Bridge was "nothing but a geological formation, which took place around 17 million years ago."

Udhayana Pillai of the Department of Geology of V.O. Chidambaram College, Tuticorin, said that the bridge belonged to the Miocene era when no human being existed in the Rameswaram island.

S. Krishnasamy of Department of Biotechnology of MKU pointed out that human beings reached Talaimannar and Rameswaram about 50,000 years ago and there was no scientific basis to show that the Adam's Bridge was man-made.

Different alignment

P. Rajamanickam of Saraswathi Narayanan College said the demand for having a different alignment for the Sethusamudram Ship Channel, without touching the Adam's Bridge, was not feasible since the present one was the best. Any other alignment would endanger the coral reefs found in 21 islands in the Gulf of Mannar, the existence of marine wealth and livelihood of fishermen.

Prof. Udhayana said that the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait were formed 17 million years back when India and Sri Lanka were detached in a drift.

It had been geologically proved that the sand bars were formed at this time. Prof. Krishnasamy pointed out that early men left Africa to settle in other parts of the world about 2 million years back.

Human beings would have settled about 60,000 to 52,000 years back in Rameswaram and Talaimannar.

A. Santha of MKU said that literature, legend and history should not be mixed up with science.

Religion, she said, was individual's belief and should not come in the way of development.

NASA claim

On the claim that the NASA had acknowledged the existence of `Ramar's Bridge,' Prof. Rajamanickam quoted the agency as saying "The images ... .. may be ours, but their interpretation is certainly not ours. Remote sensing images or photographs from orbit cannot provide direct information about the origin or age of a chain of islands, and certainly cannot determine whether humans were involved in producing any of the patterns seen."

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