PM Modi inaugurates Pamban Bridge, India's first vertical lift sea bridge

India Today

On Ram Navami, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first vertical lift rail sea bridge, the new Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. Built at a cost of ₹550 crore, the bridge carries deep mythological significance, as it's near Dhanushkodi, believed to be the starting point of Ram Setu in the Ramayana.

Transcript

00:00These are the first images. First images on your screens of Prime Minister Modi

00:05in a veshti inaugurating the Pamban Bridge. The entire sequence on your screens. First here on

00:12India Today is the images of the inauguration of the bridge. As Prime Minister flagged it off,

00:16you see the bridge going right by and then that's followed by the vertical sea lift

00:21and the ship passing by. Prime Minister Modi accompanied there by Governor Ravi. You also see

00:27Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav. Right next to him is the State Finance Minister Tangam

00:32Ten Aras. Also witnessing this historic moment of the Pamban Bridge being inaugurated. And there

00:39you have it. The vertical sea lift taking place and the Prime Minister witnessing that historic

00:46moment as the ship passed by smoothly. This is a coast guard ship where you see all the personnel

00:52there waving the tricolour very very proudly. Symbolising what this moment means. This is

00:58India's first vertical sea lift bridge. Very fittingly in the beautiful waters of the Pak

01:05Strait and in Rameswaram. These are the moments right when Prime Minister reached there. Dressed

01:11in the traditional veshti with the ankavastram and talking to all of the locals who've gathered

01:17there to also meet with the Prime Minister. So many of them part of those who are greeting

01:24Prime Minister Modi. He's also getting a lowdown of what it took to construct this particular bridge,

01:30how it works and perhaps the history of the Pamban Bridge which I told you was actually

01:34built back in 1914 and since then was operational. But due to the weather conditions, the fact that

01:40this area is lashed by cyclones and of course obvious wear and tear that it stood tall for

01:46centuries together, you had in fact this bridge becoming inoperational. The government took it

01:51upon themselves to immediately ensure that this particular bridge is constructed. You have the

01:57Pamban Bridge once again up and going courtesy a vertical sea lift. So it's got essentially,

02:03it's been revamped with the latest technology and has the unique reputation of being the first

02:09vertical sea lift bridge in India. And you see the Prime Minister there, that entire sequence

02:15as he waves to the crowds, waves to the people are on board that coast guard ship as it went

02:20past the vertical sea lift in a matter of five minutes. Pramod Madhav is with us with the first

02:26sequence of images that we have Pramod of that iconic moment of Prime Minister Modi flagging

02:31off the Pamban Bridge, inaugurating the Pamban Bridge and that iconic moment of the ship passing through.

02:41It sure was a beautiful moment Akshita. In fact you see that the bridge is still lifted up

02:45it's a complete lifter. The platform what you see over here nearly 72.8 meters platform

02:49has been completely lifted up unlike the former one where the bridge has to be.

02:53Both hands has to be raised and through this particular ship we saw a coast guard ship

02:57very beautifully sailing towards that's the coast guard ship over there. It just moved so smoothly

03:01there was no issue at all and in a matter of span of like probably five minutes the ship was lifted

03:06and it was done. Within that the coast guard ship moved from this main new bridge to the

03:11second one the older bridge and then through the under bridge of that part under part and it went

03:15made a turn and came back maybe maximum of three minutes everything was over. The Prime Minister

03:19was here just like you mentioned he wore a dhoti and he dedicated to this beautiful bridge. It is

03:24a mechanical marvel and as we speak you see one track has been constructed and the other one

03:29is underway which means actually what's going to happen is that like the in the future a second

03:34track also can be laid at the spot and there are plans for that as well. Once it is done

03:39the people do not have to wait or you know once the flow of people increases it's going to

03:44definitely help them cross from Ramanathapuram and reach Rameshwaram very easily. So this is

03:49a bridge that has been constructed keeping a far-fetched idea keeping in mind that the flow

03:54of people is going to raise pretty soon and that's why it was constructed very close and we were just

03:59standing over here right next to this rail track to view all the Sakshita the train beautifully

04:03decorated and going through this path. It was completely beautifully with planted trees and

04:07things the traditional way it was constructed and there you had the bridge that also operated

04:11in a beautiful manner. The bridge is still raised up and probably in some time it will be brought

04:15down Sakshita. So Prime Minister Modi witnessing that moment when the bridge went up you had first

04:21the train going through and then you had the ship going across all in a matter of minutes. This is

04:27the sequence of images released by the PMO of the Prime Minister's visit so far that entire area

04:34decked up by the Prime Minister. This was the exact moment when he flagged off the train and

04:38with the train passing through that was the moment that signified that the Pamban bridge is now open

04:45to rail traffic and right after that you had the sea lift taking place and the ship going through

04:50all of which was witnessed by Prime Minister Modi there with that press of the button the sea lift

04:55taking place where the bridge just essentially goes up in a matter of minutes the ship then

05:01comes through. You see the Union Minister there of railways Ashwini Vaishnav also briefing the

05:06Prime Minister of exactly what it took to make this particular bridge functional and it's a huge

05:13challenge just imagine this bang in the middle of the sea this kind of infrastructure has been

05:19constructed in a matter of years at a cost of over 500 crores and it's a huge boon of course for all

05:26of the locals in Rameshwaram and for scores of devotees who make their way to Rameshwaram

05:31to be and to soak in the devotion of the Ramanathaswamy temple as well. The Prime Minister

05:38as we speak is at the temple right now but you see him there going ahead and also interacting

05:45with the locals many of them who were there as part of the traditional welcome party for Prime

05:51Minister Modi it looks like some representatives from the temple were also there as they were

05:55seeing chanting slokas when the Prime Minister reached he's also taken in a brief history of

06:01the bridge as you see there a small presentation that was laid out for him to understand the

06:05significance of this moment of the Pamban bridge being flagged off and the history how it stood the

06:11test of time for centuries together and only fitting really that you have the Pamban bridge

06:16once again functional for so many of us who visited Rameshwaram in the last many years like

06:21I have I remember seeing this entire stretch of two rail bridges unfortunately none of them were

06:27functional at that point but now you will have the one with the vertical sea lift operational

06:33the older bridge will slowly be dismantled and just set across that stunning blue of the park

06:41straight is truly a vision to behold the Prime Minister next is going to be at and is we

06:47understand at the Ramanathaswamy temple again I just like to put our focus on all the images that

06:52we've received today whether it's of the Surya Tilak of in fact a Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya

06:59or it's that moment when the Prime Minister had a darshan of the Ram Setu or this moment of the

07:04inauguration of the Pamban bridge if we put on each of those images it's a message that

07:10goes across on the occasion of Ram Navami of how Lord Ram connects and also of the divinity

07:17plus modernity that India truly stands for right now for the Prime Minister he had that

07:24rare auspicious moment and as he calls it a divine coincidence of getting a darshan of Ram Setu

07:31which is of course the Ram bridge you see those natural limestone shoals spread across that entire

07:36area centuries ago this was one area one piece of land that connected Lanka to Dhanushkodi now

07:43you see that the water levels have risen so pieces of stretches of land that you see in that entire

07:49area and the Prime Minister says that he got that darshan at 12 p.m for the four minutes that you

07:56had the Surya Tilak on the idol of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya all of this on the occasion of Ram Navami

08:03and it is on the occasion of Ram Navami that Pamban bridge has also been opened up opened up

08:10for devotees to go ahead and worship Lord Ram and also of course pay their respects to Lord Shiva

08:18on the occasion of Ram Navami so very fitting that it's on this day that you have the bridge

08:23being opened up we're also awaiting shortly images of Prime Minister Modi donning that

08:28wearing the Rangavastram to be in the Ramanatha Swami temple also for a very very special darshan

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