PM Modi's new year gift: Green signal to Ram Setu rail line project

The government has given green signal for railway line connecting Rameshwaram with Dhanushkodi, which is known as the starting point of Ram Setu and is a major pilgrim destination. This 17-km line will cost around Rs 208 crore and it has been included in the umbrella work for new lines in the current financial year. 

The new railway line will be a boon to pilgrims visiting the place. Hindu pilgrimage at Rameshwaram gets completed only after taking a dip in Dhanushkodi and this rail line will make it easier for them to reach the destination. 

As per reports, the railway line may also push the plan for restoration of a rail-cum-sea route to Sri Lanka. They added that lawmakers had been demanding early restoration of rail connectivity.

It is the first effort to restore the link after a cyclone had destroyed the rail link between the two sites in 1964.

The railways has also approved building a new bridge on Pamban channel, which will replace the 104-year-old structure over the sea. The vertical-lift bridge, to be built alongside the existing bridge at Rs 249 crore, will have the first vertical lift span in India. The old bridge was closed for traffic earlier this month. 

It will be ready in the next four years, and along with the new railway link between Rameswaram in Pamban Island and Dhanuskodi, which is considered the starting point of Ram Setu, will help ferry thousands of pilgrims from the Hindu religious site to the mainland.