Slippery patch on Pamban bridge gets a ‘safe’ coat, thanks to Prez

Pamban road bridge is the only road connectivity between the main land and Pamban Island which has important tourist locations such as Rameswaram. Also to reach Dhanushkodi vehicles has to cross the Pamban bridge from the main land. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Rameswaram to inaugurate the memorial of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the new road, at a cost of Rs 2 lakh, was laid on Pamban bridge but ever since the road was laid there were many accidents as the drivers complained of the road being slippery.

Following a large number of complaints, the National Highways decided to remove the slippery road, made of mastic asphalt mixture and works were undertaken to lay a new road with bituminous concrete. However, the work was not completed and only a portion of the slippery patch was removed.

As the President’s visit had been scheduled, the NH officials had been instructed to remove the slippery road completely and to lay the new non-slippery road throughout the bridge. So the works for removing the slippery section had been taken up immediately whichis expected to be completed in a couple of days.

The President is scheduled to visit Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram and Kalam memorial. Sources said that in-between, when President takes lunch at the government guest house, fishermen would present a memorandum with a host of demands to be implemented by the Union government.