Sandstorm deters visitors to Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi island in Ramanthapuram district was recently connected by a welllaid road. It was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Actually, the inauguration was postponed due to severe wind and sand covering the entire road on several occasions. 

But officials overcame the problem of sand covering the entire road by regular cleaning and placing boulders on both the sides of the roads.  Despite the presence of boulders, sand continued to cover the road following heavy winds. 

However, after the inauguration of the road on July 27, heavy wind was not witnessed in the region and tourists were having a pleasant and safe ride till Arichalmunai, the end point of Dhanushkodi. But on Sunday, owing to heavy wind the road at Arichalmunai point was completely covered with sand which gave motorists a tough time. 

They encountered a problem while taking a U-turn at Arichalmunai. “We have to manoeuvre the vehicles around the Ashoka pillar to return. As there was heavy accumulation of sand at this point, we found it tough to turn the vehicles around,” said a tourist.     

The tourists were left with no other option but to park the vehicles at some distance away from Arichalmunai. As a result, they were forced to walk on the road filled with sand. But this simple task too turned tough, as the walking platform was strewn with sand. Heavy winds compounded the problems on the beach. It robbed the pleasure of the people as the winds constantly blew sand on their faces. “We were forced to cover our faces for avoid sand from getting into our eyes,” lamented a tourist.