Chennai:

India’s first vertical lift sea bridge at Pamban in southern Tamil Nadu will be opened in January to restore rail connectivity to Rameswaram island from the country’s mainland. 

The 2.08-km-long bridge, constructed by the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), is expected to allow the Indian Railways to operate trains at a higher speed.

It has been built parallel to an existing bridge that was constructed by the British and is believed to be 110 years old. 

Officials said that unlike the heritage structure, the girders from each side of the new bridge will open up like a butterfly to allow ships and other vessels to pass through. A lift span, which is 72.5-metres long, 16 metres wide and weighs 550 tonnes, can be lifted up automatically up to 17 metres. 

Although the Commissioner for Railway Safety has given his nod to run trains on the bridge, he has flagged key concerns, including inadequate measures to check corrosion and deviation from the girder’s original design. 

However, authorities said the concerns are being addressed. “We have made a robust 250 micron level coat and this has qualified CECRI (Central Electrochemical Research Institute)’s test,” said R Srinivasan, Senior Deputy General Manager, RVNL. 

On complaints of design deviation, Mr Srinivasan said: “It’s a new concept and both IIT Madras and IIT Bombay have approved our design.” The original design was conceptualised by the Research Design and Standards Organisation of the Indian Railway.

He also said the bridge is ready for inauguration, and that the structure will last for a 100 years.

The train services between Mandapam in the mainland and Rameswaram island were suspended on December 23, 2022 after the existing rail bridge was declared non-operational from the safety point of view. Severe corrosion had made it weak and unfit for operations, officials said.

At present, all trains terminate at Mandapam and people use road routes to reach Rameswaram.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the new bridge in November 2019. The work started in February 2020 and was supposed to be completed by December 2021, but the deadline was extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Delhi:

The owner of the Rameshwaram cafe in Bengaluru, where a low-intensity bomb blast left 10 people injured on Friday, spoke to NDTV and recounted the sequence of events that led to the explosion at her Whitefield outlet.

The owner, Divya Raghavendra Rao, said that the suspect was seen having rava idli before leaving his bag in the restaurant.

“My mobile phone was not with me when the blast took place and when I picked it up, there were too many missed calls. When I called back my team, they told me that there was a blast in the restaurant,” she said.

“The first thing that I thought was that maybe the blast took place due to something inside the kitchen. But then we found out that there were no injuries or blood inside the kitchen and that the blast took place in the customer area,” Ms Rao added.

She said that after looking at the CCTV footage, they saw that a guy wearing a mask and muffler came to the billing counter and ordered a rava idli.

“He took his order and then sat in a corner. He finished his meal and then left a bag in the corner before exiting the restaurant,” Ms Rao said, adding that the blast then took place after some time.

She said that luckily there were no cylinders kept where the blast took place.

‘Rameshwaram Cafe Is My Baby’

Ms Rao said that she recently gave birth to her baby and that there was no difference between the Rameshwaram cafe and her newborn.

“My business is also my baby and the damage to my outlet equally hurts me,” she said.

In a gritty message to her customers, she said that the Rameshwaram cafe would come back very shortly and strongly.

“The Whitefield outlet will operate the same way it was operating with more tight security and more safety systems in place. We will be back,” she said.

‘Will Help People Injured In Blast’

Thanking God that there were no fatal injuries in the Rameshwaram cafe blast, Mr Rao said that she would help the injured persons.

“There were no serious injuries. Some people who have received some injuries are likely to recover in 15-30 days,” she said.

“We will take care of them to make sure that they are back to their normal lives,” she added.

In an official statement, she said she is cooperating with the authorities and officials in their investigations.

“We are deeply saddened by the unfortunate incident at our Brookefield branch today… Our thoughts are with the injured and their families, and we are offering them all the support, assistance and care they need and pray for their speedy recovery,” Ms Rao said.