Unusual weather makes it a rough ride at Dhanushkodi

Sources said that weather appears strange this year. “The region has been experiencing strong winds even before the onset of south west monsoon at Rameswaram,” they said. Generally, such weather activity prevails only during June. Because of the heavy wind beach sand flew and covered the road. As a result, the narrow Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi road was completely covered bys sand. 

Tourist vehicles had a tough time to traverse the stretch. The drivers were of the view that they would face the risk of skidding while manoeuvring the sand-covered tar road as they faced the risk of skidding.

Added to this, there were high tides too. The sea was rough. Unmindful of the risks, tourists were seen having fun in the sea. However, train services bore the brunt of the situation. Two trains that had to cross the Pamban bridge on sea were stopped for several hours because of the inclement weather and as the signal showed red.

A railway official incharge of commercial operations at Madurai said that an anemometer has been fixed on the bridge. Signals on both the sides are automatically controlled by the instrument. When the wind speed crosses 55 kmph, the signal would automatically turn red. On Tuesday night, the maximum speed of the wind was 67 kmph. So, the signals turned red automatically. However, there would be a worker stationed at the Pamban bridge, who would manually check the speed of the wind and only if the wind speed was less than 55 kmph he would give green signal. 

On Tuesday night, Sethu Express was stationed close to Pamban bridge on Rameswaram island at 8.20 pm. The train got clearance to cross the bridge only close to midnight. Similarly, the Madurai-Rameswaram passenger train was stopped at Mandapam station and allowed to proceed only after Sethu Express crossed Mandapam station.