Vehicles to Dhanushkodi to be parked at Mukuntharayarchathiram

Fearing security of the visitors, the district administration has decided to stop all the private vehicles visiting Dhanushkodi at Mukuntharayarchathiram. It is planning to take the visitors to Arichalmunai in government buses. As part of this mega plan, a large parking lot will be set up at Mukuntharayarchathiram, said sources at Rameswaram. 

Sources also informed that work for laying the parking lot has commenced. They have brought in road rollers to flatten the surface. They said that no big structures will be constructed in the parking lot and the space will be only utilised for parking the vehicles at Mukuntharayarchathiram.

Official sources are confident that the work would be completed in less than a month. Once the work of putting up the parking lot is completed, the district administration will pass orders to strictly ensure that the vehicles stop at Mukuntharayarchatram. 

However, the sources also opine that tourists will not like the decision of the district administration to stop the vehicles at Mukuntharayarchathiram as they would like to travel further in their own vehicle. Dhanushkodi island is one of the most sought after tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu and tourists throng the island to see the remnants of 1964 cyclone. 

Also Dhanushkodi beach is one of the unique beaches as at least four nearby land masses are visible to the tourists. Since the destruction of the island in 1964 cyclone there were no proper road facility to Dhanushkodi and private vehicles were stopped at Mukuntharayachathiram, 10 kilometres away from Arichalmunai in Dhanushkodi. People visited the island in vans which transported the tourists via the coastal route. 

However, recently a 9.5 kilometre road to Arichalmunai was laid by the central government and private vehicles were allowed till Arichalmunai point. Since the inauguration of the new road, tourist footfall at Dhanushkodi has increased manifold.