1 lak devotees gathered

Ramanathapuram:Devotees at Rameswaram on the occasion of “Aadi Amavasai” on Sunday.More than one lakh devotees took a holy dip in the water off Rameswaram on the occasion of ‘Aadi Amavasai’ on Sunday.The devotees, who came from different parts of the country and stayed overnight in and around the Ramanathaswamy temple, visited the ‘Agnitheerthakadarkarai’ in the early morning and offered special pujas to their forefathers.

Earlier, the idols of the temple’s presiding deity, Sri Ramanathasamy, and Lord Siva were brought to the Agnitheerthakadarkarai in a procession for special pujas and abhishekams.Some devotees donated cows to the temple.The devotees also visited the temple and took bath in the 22 theerthams.The police said the crowd this year was one of the largest congregations in recent years.Pilgrims, who reached Rameswaram on Saturday night, found it difficult to get rooms, as almost all lodges, hotels and ‘yatriniwas’ were full.Some owners collected exorbitant rents though the lodges had only limited facilities.A huge crowd converged on Dhanushkodi, Muhuntharayarchatram, Sethukarai and Devipattinam for performing ‘pithru puja.’

Agitation planned in Ramanathapuram

Ramanathapuram:Various associations of Ramanathapuram have decided to organise an agitation protesting the “inordinate delay” in opening the Rameswaram-Manamadurai section for traffic.The decision was taken at a meeting held here on Tuesday.Expressing dismay over the unnecessary delay in resuming traffic in the important train route, M.A. Sundararajan, president, Tamil Nadu Consumer Protection Centre, who presided over the meeting, said even after spending several crore of rupees for conversion work, the railways had not taken enough interest to open the traffic.

It was a great loss not only to the railways but also to people and pilgrims.The people were put to untold hardship for the past one and half years on account of gauge conversion between Rameswaram and Manamadurai. But, the sufferings of the people should not be allowed to continue particularly after completing the work.He also pointed out that the Commissioner for Railway Safety had also given the green signal to operate train in the route.He said the date for the protest would be decided in the next meeting for which all leading associations would be called.

M. Dhanabalan, president, Chamber of Commerce, Ramanathapuram district, Asmabagh Anwardeen, president, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Karunanidhi, president, Textile Merchants Association and others participated.More than 200 persons belonging to various associations on Wednesday staged a demonstration at Paramakudi.They urged the Southern Railway to open the Manamadurai-Rameswaram section for traffic.

India and Sri Lanka have decided to coordinate

Ramanathapuram:The Navies of India and Sri Lanka have decided to coordinate their communication network to prevent nefarious activities on either side of the territorial waters.The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of Naval officers of India and Sri Lanka, which took place between the coast off Rameswaram and Point Calimere on board the SLN Sayura, an offshore patrol vessel of the Sri Lankan Navy, on Friday.

The INS Savithiri of the Indian Navy and Habba Khatun, a ship of the Coast Guard, kept a watch as the meeting was on. Several fast attack crafts of the Sri Lankan Navy monitored the movement of boats in their territory.While Commodore Phillip Van Haltren, Naval Officer in-charge, Tamil Nadu, led the Indian delegation, Samaratunga from the Northern Naval Command of Sri Lanka led the team from the island nation.Representatives of the Indian Coast Guard also attended the meeting.Incidents of firing against Tamil Nadu fishermen, reports of smuggling from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka, violations by a section of Tamil Nadu fishermen, who stray into Sri Lankan waters, retrieval of fishermen and fishing boats captured by Sri Lanka and reports of Sri Lankan fishermen entering Indian waters were discussed at the meeting.

Commodore Haltren told The Hindu that the Indian delegation asked the Sri Lankan Navy not to fire upon the fishermen of Tamil Nadu if they entered Sri Lankan waters for fishing. Instead, they could be arrested as per the laws of Sri Lanka.“We informed the Sri Lankan counterparts about the new initiatives taken by the Tamil Nadu Government to regulate fishing boats. We told them that all boats in Tamil Nadu had been given new registration numbers for identification. We asked them to intimate the Indian Navy immediately, if any boat from India indulges in nefarious activities,” he said. When the issue of recent killing of five Kanyakumari fishermen was raised, the Sri Lankan delegation said it had been established that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem was behind the incident. They [Sri Lankan Navy] claimed that the LTTE had carried out the attack only to discredit the Sri Lanka Navy, Commodore Haltren said.The meeting decided to step up phone-to-phone contact so as to sort out any issue immediately.The mobile phone numbers of naval officers from both the countries were exchanged.

Sea water reduses

Ramanathapuram:Seawater suddenly receded for about 100 metres along the Rameswaram coast in the district on Friday, causing panic among farmers, residents and tourists.This was evident at the ‘agni theertham’ shore where pilgrims take holy bath at Rameswaram. The sea bed was exposed for about 100 metres, and remained so for most part of the day. It forced pilgrims to skip holy bath at ‘agni theertham.’ The same phenomenon was reported in other coastal areas of the district. Similarly, the sea was extremely rough forcing the fishermen to keep away from venturing into the sea. The velocity of the wind was around 30 to 35 kmph.Fishermen and local residents said it was unusual to see the exposed area at ‘agni theertham’ shore, as the sea was usually calm at this place. Even during the tsunami strike, there was no perceptible change at Rameswaram.

There was also a report that Rameswaram and nearby areas witnessed sandstorm. The storm closed most part of the road from Rameswaram to Dhanushkodi.The police and revenue officials allayed people’s fears, saying that nothing would happen to them.S. Velpandian, Assistant Director, Fisheries, said that tokens would not be issued to the fishermen on Saturday owing to the rough sea. Fishermen had been asked to not to venture into the sea.

Prayer to ensure peace in Sri Lanka

Ramanathapuram:A group of Sri Lankan refugees praying at Mandapam camp on Wednesday.Even as Sri Lankan refugees observed the World Refugee Day on Wednesday, the arrival of refugees continued suggesting that the people still had to wait for long to see a peaceful homeland.A group of six refugees reported at Mandapam seeking asylum on Wednesday. Incidentally, the number of refugees, who had reached Tamil Nadu since January 12 last year has crossed the 20,000-mark.

In spite of this surging number of refugees, a section of refugees joined a peaceful ‘silence prarthana’ at the Mandapam camp.It urged all stakeholders of the island nation, warring groups, religious heads and others to work for a peaceful homeland.“I have no doubt that I enjoy peace and tranquillity here [India].But, my mind is always with my homeland. I came here leaving my mother and two sisters following harassment from various quarters. I am the only breadwinner of the family.

I miss them. I pray that time should immediately come for a peaceful resettlement,” said 25-year-old S. Paramavamsarajan of Karai Nagar in Jaffna.“Though the Government is distributing around Rs. 2,000 a month to each refugee family besides subsidised rice and kerosene, more than 80 per cent of the refugees want to settle in peaceful Sri Lanka.I pray with them for peace,” said Durai. Ramachandran, Special Deputy Collector, Mandapam camp.“The present situation in Sri Lanka is dreadful. Daylight murder, abduction, bomb attack, human rights violation and others have become part of life.Let us hope the parties concerned realise the aspirations of the ordinary citizens,” said a 70-year-old refugee from Jaffna.

Train derails

Ramanathapuram: A goods train, which was coming from Manamadurai to Mandapam on the newly laid broad gauge track, derailed near Mandapam Railway Station on Tuesday.The train was carrying blue metal for filling in sections of the track.The accident occurred when the goods train, which had 12 wagons, was about to enter the Mandapam Railway Station around 2.30 p.m.The first wagon of the train derailed from the track.Engineers have rushed the spot to put the derailed part of the train on track.

Salvage team rescues barge off Rameswaram

Ramanathapuram:A hovercraft of the Coast Guard monitoring the rescued barge in the Adam’s Bridge area on Wednesday.Following a determined effort by a 25-member salvage team, a barge owned by a company at Karwar in Karnataka, that ran aground with 13 crew members near the 2nd island off Rameswaram, was rescued on Wednesday.

The accident took place on May 26 when the vessel was trying to take an unapproved route to Visakhapatnam from Tuticorin.It took more than two weeks for the salvage team, based at Tuticorin, to retrieve the barge, weighing 1312 tonnes. The Coast Guard, Mandapam, provided technical and moral assistance to the team. The barge was carrying 11 tonnes of fuel, besides 210 litres of lubricant oil and 100 litres of kerosene.

Commander K. Janardhanan, Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Station, Mandapam, told The Hindu that the barge was pulled out safely by employing conventional methods involving the use of ropes, anchors, brackets and other instruments. Since the barge was grounded in a shallow area, the team had to move the vessel inch by inch.H-183, a hovercraft of the Coast Guard, and an interceptor craft monitored the mission right from the day of the accident.

4000 children had training

Ramanathapuram: The life school concept introduced by `World Vision,' a non-governmental organisation, has been successful in improving interpersonal and overall skills of rural children.Based on its latest initiative, more than 4,000 children of Kadaladi, Mudukulathur and Kamudhi and nearby areas were given special training in singing, dancing, public speech and tips on education.

School complexes, which were scenic in nature and kept clean, were selected for giving training to the children from standard I to X to help them understand the value of clean environment.
They were given training by well-educated volunteers, who attended a residential course on life school concept conducted by World Vision in Madurai.Much to the delight of the organisers, most of the children, though hailing from rural areas, attended the programme dressed in a neat manner.

Pamban railway bridge will be strengthened

Ramanathapuram:The Pamban railway bridge will be strengthened to operate goods trains, Railway Board Chairman J.P. Batra said on Friday."I am fully satisfied with the safety aspects. The Commissioner for Railway Safety has cleared it for operating passenger trains. The next steps will be to operate goods trains... ," Mr. Batra told the The Hindu on Friday after inspecting the bridge, which was recently converted to broad gauge using indigenous technology.Thomas Varghese, General Manager, Southern Railway, A.K Sinha, Chief Bridge Engineer, Southern Railway, and other officials accompanied Mr. Batra.

"All changes on the Pamban bridge were done based on consultation and certification by the Indian Institute of Technology-Chennai, Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai, and a number of leading research laboratories, which are the authorised certifying agencies."Member, Engineering [Railway Board], and a team of members made a presentation before the President Abdul Kalam about the changes being made so that it [the bridge] remains safe for operating passenger trains," Mr. Batra said.Asked whether Railways would construct a new bridge as an alternative to the 100-year-old bridge, Mr. Batra said it was not correct to say that the structure should be demolished considering its age.The decision to strengthen it was taken based on its condition, and after various studies.

Mr. Batra said it had been decided to employ a motor to lift the bridge. It would be designed by IIT-Chennai. It would bring down the time to lift the bridge from 30 minutes to just 5 minutes. Till the work was completed, the lifting would be done manually.He said the Minister for Railway had written to President Abdul Kalam, inviting him to open the Manamadurai-Rameswaram section for traffic. "We are awaiting a date from him."

More facilities for temple

Ramanathapuram: The State Government would take steps to improve the infrastructure facilities for the benefit of devotees at Rameswaram, said K.R. Periakaruppan, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment.Talking to reporters here on Friday after visiting Sri Ramanathasamy Temple at Rameswaram near here, he said that considering the heavy arrival of devotees, more lodging facilities would be created. Car parking facility would also be created near the temple.

Asked about the recent report of burglary at the temple, he said several new efforts were being taken to prevent recurrence of burglary. Automatic cameras would be installed at specific locations so that suspicious persons could be monitored.Mr. Periakaruppan said that construction of North and South towers, which was started by the Kancheepuram Sankaracharya, was delayed for various reasons. However, the State Government decided to take up the remaining work. Efforts would be taken to get two elephants from the Forest Department for the temple.Earlier, the Minister went around all corridors and roof of the temple.

Catamaran competition @ Ramanathapuram

The contest in progress off Thondi coast on Tuesday.Catamaran competition, the ancient sport of the fishermen, has all characteristics to attract a huge crowd. Though a section of sports-loving fishermen continue to conduct the spectacular catamaran competitions here and there, it has been slowly facing the danger of near extinction due to modernisation of boats.

The competition conducted on Tuesday by the organisers of `Kadal Sool Mariamman' Temple festival at Thondi has once again proved that the competition could be used for attracting tourists. Unlike other boats such as mechanised, motorised and fibreglass boats, catamarans sail based on wind direction. The boatmen need acumen to sail the catamaran both against and the same direction of the wind. The sail (mat), fixed on the boat, has to be operated based on wind direction.

According to the rules fixed by the organisers, the participants should travel to a distance of 5 km and return to the shore after touching a boat anchored in the sea.In the competition, 23 boats were participated in two groups. They took nearly three hours to cover the distance. The spectators, mostly fishermen and local people, enjoyed the show thoroughly, to see the impressive row of catamarans."It is great to watch the line of catamarans on sea," said S. Ilavenil, sub-inspector, Thondi.

The local fishermen feel that the competition has been losing its sheen after the advent of mechanised boats. "It was the rule of catamaran till a decade ago, as the fishermen had to depend on it for fishing. Now, almost all fishermen have switched over to motorboats. Only a handful of fishermen use catamaran. Hence, the number of competitions and participants have come down to a great extent," said M. Kalidass of Nambuthalai.

The fishermen said that the Fisheries Department should organise catamaran competitions in all parts of the district. Enough publicity should be given to the competitions so that outsiders could participate. If needed, fisheries officials could frame new rules and regulations so as to make the competition lively. It would surely attract tourists.