Dhanushkodi: A ghost town awaits revival

On the evening of December 22, 1964, 14-year-old Purushothaman was playing with his friend Muniyasamy at his home in the railway quarter of Dhanushkodi. When he asked his friend to stay the night, a worried Muniyasamy refused, replying that he had to go to his home at the edge of town to take care of his mother and the goats she kept. Neither of them had any idea of ​​the severe cyclonic storm coming to their region. Earlier in the day, a deadly cyclone wreaked havoc on the island nation as it passed through Bhavuniya, the northern province of Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon).

As darkness fell, a heavy wind blew. Mr. Purushothaman went to bed with his four brothers and mother. His father, who was a cook on one of the two ships that brought passengers to Sri Lanka and back, had gone to Rameswaram while his ship was being repaired. In the middle of the night, after seeing the sea water entering their house, Mr. Purushothaman and his family were frightened as the water rose to hip-level.

Read this also The dreaded Dhanushkodi Cyclone of 1964

Today, the septuagenarian is one of the survivors of the typhoon that devastated the city on the intervening night of December 22 and 23, 1964. The entire railway station was destroyed leaving only a few stone structures. A frail man with a long beard is the priest of a simple Shiva temple where the railway station building now stands. “Fishing was the main occupation here. Apart from them, the loadmen working at railway stations formed a large population,” said Mr. Purushothaman, recalling his old days in the railway colony. The railway quarters were the only concrete houses. Fishermen lived in huts.

Another V. who survived the disaster. ‘Neechal’ Kali, who is no longer alive, was born and brought up in a coastal town. He also became an adept swimmer by crossing the Palk Strait between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar in the Northern Province. Witnessing the tragedy that became the tragic story, Kali dreamed of recapturing the past glory of his hometown with bustling ferries, trade and cultural exchanges between India and Sri Lanka. But he breathed his last a few years ago without fulfilling his dream.

Kali’s complaint

Kali’s complaint was: While representatives of government, non-governmental organizations and others paid tribute to the victims of many calamities including the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the Kumbakonam school fire, the Dhanushkodi cyclone victims rarely received tribute or recognition. As long as he lived, he fasted on the anniversary.

In an interview with Hindu In 2010, Kali, then 88, recalled that Dhanushkodi was a prosperous and thriving coastal town with brisk trade and business activities until the great tragedy, where the Southern Railway operated a boat mail (also known as the Indo-Ceylon Express) from Madras to Egmore. Now Chennai Egmore) to connect steamers from Dhanushkodi Irvine and Goschen. Passengers were ticketed from Madras to Colombo and taken by steamers to Talaimannar for the onward train journey to Colombo. Boat mail will bring tourists and pilgrims from Chennai to Dhanushkodi. A water tank rake for the steam engine of the trains, and two other trains from Madurai and Coimbatore will arrive at Dhanushkodi every day.

Most pilgrims flock to Dhanushkodi, where Lord Rama, according to legend, worshiped Lord Shiva. “An idol of Lord Ramanathaswamy was also brought from Rameswaram amaavasai Tamil month (new moon) etc and Thai for the pilgrim (a kind of ritual in which the idol is bathed in the sea),” recalls Sri Purushothaman. Pilgrims will also visit Muneeswaran, Santhana Mariamman and Kuni Mariamman temples. International passengers would arrive by boat mail and board steamers to and from Talaimannar. Three-decked ships carry passengers and food to Sri Lanka. “Fishermen used to earn money by bringing in smuggled goods from Ceylon like Rani chappal soap, Nyalex sarees, Romer watches,” says Mr. Purushothaman.

Memoirs of a Bureaucrat

Detailing the events in his memoirs Service uninterruptedSenior civil servant MM Rajendran, who was the then Ramanathapuram Collector and later became Chief Secretary and Governor of Odisha, said that when he and his colleagues reached Mandapam, the final point on the mainland, they found to their dismay that the entire Pamban Railway. The bridge connecting the mainland with Rameswaram was swept away. “…a night train running from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was washed away by the tide, only the engine and the chassis (sic) of the bogies, the wooden superstructure of the bogies (they didn’t have integrated coaches. days) were seen floating around. What happened was that the long narrow island where the two seas of north and south joined the tides. When the wave came, the train was in the confluence of the sea,’ wrote Rajendran (who died last year). It was estimated that there were 500 “ticketless passengers” so that the number could not be estimated.

Recalling how the survivors came to terms with reality, Mr. Purushothaman recalls: “We saw hundreds of Australian flamingos lying on the ground with injured wings and legs. The survivors opened a parcel office and brought some wheat. We used the files from the customs office as cooking fuel. The next day, hundreds of people started walking along the beach to reach the mandapam. The then Chief Minister M. Baktavatsalam and his predecessor – Congress President K. Kamaraj – flew and visited the cyclone affected areas. A few hours before the cyclone hit the island, veteran film star Gemini Ganesan, who was on a pilgrimage, had left Dhanushkodi, recalls Pujari.

The link road is missing

After the destruction of Dhanushkodi, it came to be known as the “ghost town”. Only fishermen go to sea from there. Pilgrims also go there to offer offerings to their ancestors. Pilgrims can reach Mukundarayar Chathiram only by four-wheeled vehicles as the only mode of transport is not available now.

Another consequence of the 1964 disaster was the central government’s decision to delay the implementation of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal project. Sensing this attitude, the Congress government in Tamil Nadu proposed to appoint administrative and technical staff for land acquisition, building construction and communication improvement in the cyclone-affected areas. After some time, the Sri Lankan government did not give its approval to carry out certain tests for the project. Despite serious bids to revive the project after nearly 40 years, the project is still in limbo.

Dhanushkodi finally got a road link in July 2017, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the opening of a 9.5 km road (5 km from Mukuntharayar Chathiram to Dhanushkodi and 4.5 km from Dhanushkodi to Arichal Munai) constructed by the central authorities at a cost of around ₹. 70 crores.

Officially called the Missing Link Road, the two-lane corridor with paved shoulders on both sides is a sand bed. This has provided a much-needed boost to tourism development, and every day hundreds of cars and vans ply the road, attracting tourists and pilgrims to the picturesque strip of land bordering the sea. After the waves of both the seas hit the road repeatedly, the Central Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has constructed a gabion wall to protect it from sea erosion. However, engineers are facing a new challenge to remove the sand dunes that accumulate on the roads due to the storm.

Kavita, a fisherwoman who stays here during the day to cook food for her husband and children who have gone to the sea for fishing, points out the buried structure of the old railway station. Only three tall stone pillars and a stone building remain of the railway station, which has now become a much-sought-after site for photos and selfies. Shopkeepers display pictures of the ruins of Dhanushkodi — the remains of a church, living units and an old post office.

As an additional tourist attraction, the Directorate of Lighthouses and Lightships installed a huge lighthouse in 2022 at the site near the dilapidated railway station. The best view is from the top of the 49 meter high lighthouse tower. The increasing number of tourists has led to the emergence of many small eateries and shops selling goods made from seashells along the road, especially at Dhanushkodi and Arichal Munai on the tip of Rameswaram Island. The Dhanushkodi-Arichal Munai road, which is closed for tourists after 4:30 pm, is likely to serve as an airstrip for landing aircraft in case of emergency, an engineer has suggested to strengthen the road.

Wanting to revive the Dhanushkodi rail link, the central government launched a project for the construction of a 17-km long broad-gauge track after Mr. Modi laid the foundation stone in March 2019. However, the ambitious plan to connect the railway track to Dhanushkodi has been blocked.

During the survey, the railway officials found that the new road constructed up to Dhanushkodi encroached on the railway land. Additionally, officials were cautious about the intrusion of sea water and sand dunes on the missing link road, which could hamper train movement. A study suggested building a higher structure to protect the tracks from sea water and sand. However, this led to a multi-fold increase in the project cost, from ₹ 208.3 crore to ₹ 733.91 crore. Although railway officials were confident of acquiring the land, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav announced in Parliament in July 2023 that the Tamil Nadu government had requested the Center to drop the project as the alignment was passing through an “environmentally-sensitive area”.

A monument to neglect

The concrete structure built in 1999 to commemorate those who lost their lives in 1964 is in a dilapidated condition due to neglect. It was inaugurated by the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, Fatima Biwi, at the old bus terminus at Mukuntharayar Chathiram. The granite floor is broken, the tiles are stripped. Even the letters on the marble slab are only vaguely visible.

However, during the recent visit of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumar Dissanayake to New Delhi, with the discussion on the resumption of passenger ferry service between Rameswaram and Talaimannar, pilgrims and tourists have seen a glimmer of hope to revive Nepal’s glorious past. island city.