Dhanushkodi, the once flourishing trade centre, 18 kms from the holy town of Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu was declared a ghost town after the entire town was flattened, rail link snapped and thousands killed by a dreaded cyclonic storm which made a landfall on the intervening nights of December 22 and 23, 1964.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the missing link of 9.5 kms long stretch of NH49 (new, NH87) from Mukuntharayar Chathiram to Arichamunai.
Pilgrims and tourists flocked the strip as part of their pilgrimage to the Rameswaram island. They never minded taking the rough ride in the sandy and marshy terrain in four-wheeled SUVs and vans.
As more and more pilgrims started visiting the land strip, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways came forward to lay the road after obtaining the ‘Gabion boxes’ technology from IIT-Madras to protect the road from high tidal impact.
Overcoming many hurdles, the National Highways began the work in 2014 and completed the 9.5 kms long road – 5 km from Mukuntharayar Chathiram to Dhanushkodi and 4.5 km from Dhanushkodi to Arichamunai, the eastern tip in October 2016 at a total cost of ₹ 70 crore.
Even after completing all works and laying rotary at the end in Arichamunai for vehicles to turn around, the road remained closed for traffic as high tides dislodged the gabion boxes in November 2016. Later, the NHAI built a 1.5 km long sea wall at Arichamunai point and a 500 metre long sea wall at Dhanushkodi point and made the stretch ready to be opened for traffic.
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* Dhanushkodi
* Must Visit
* BeachDrive
* Indian Roadie Beach Drive
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