Three judges from the Madurai bench of Madras High Court inspected the Pamban road bridge, the facilities for the pilgrims at the historic Sri Ramanathaswamy temple and the adjacent agni theertham seashore, and the prevailing conditions in Dhanushkodi.
Acting on a batch of public interest litigation petitions, which alleged frequent accidents on the Pamban road bridge after the national highways department renovated the surface with Mastic asphalt materials and complained of lack of facilities in the temple, the judges – K.K. Sasidharan, G.R. Swaminathan and J. Nisha Banu – visited the places on Sunday to get first-hand information.
During the day-long visit, the judges inspected the Mastic asphalt surface on the Pamban road bridge, which, according to road users, has turned slippery after the excess bitumen melted away.
Acting on the complaints, officials from the national highways department replaced the surface at the central portion of the bridge, where tourists and pilgrims stopped vehicles for sightseeing, with a bituminous concrete layer to provide grip.
The judges, accompanied by collector S. Natarajan and Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena, later visited the 22 wells, the venerated theerthams inside the temple and suggested that the temple authorities provide additional dressing room facilities for the pilgrims who took holy bath in the theerthams before offering worship.
Replacement of tiles
The judges also suggested that the temple authorities replace the flooring in the south and west of the second corridor, used by the pilgrims after taking holy bath, with anti-skid tiles, Mr. K. Mayilvahanan, Assistant Divisional Engineer of the temple, who accompanied the judges, said.
The temple authorities proposed to build new dressing rooms in a 6,000 sq.ft. area near the north entrance of the temple, he said. The judges later visited the agni theertham seashore in front of the eastern entrance of the temple and inspected the facilities.
Pilgrims take holy dip in the sea after performing rituals and drop the old clothes in the sea, leading to pollution. The judges also inspected the e-toilets installed for the benefit of pilgrims near the seashore.
Braving gusty winds, the judges visited Dhanushkodi and Arichamunai, travelling on the newly inaugurated road.
They interacted with the local people to ascertain whether the human settlements could be allowed in Dhanushkodi.
Though majority of the local population stay in nearby Natarajapuram, fishermen insist on staying in Dhanushkodi.