A mechanised fishing boat, anchored in Pamban – on the north side of the Palk Bay, almost rammed the Pamban rail bridge after the anchor rope got snapped, sending anxious moments for the railway officials who were carrying out repair works in the bridge after suspending train services since December 4.
Fisheries department officials said the vessel drifted towards the bridge on Tuesday night and got stuck after hitting against a big rock in the shallow water near the bridge. They pressed into service three mechanised fishing boats and tried in vain to pull the ‘grounded’ boat till the evening. As the ropes got cut, they used iron ropes to pull the boat, officials said. The boat remained stuck about 200 meters away from the bridge.
Railway officials said there was no immediate threat to the bridge. As Indian Coast Guard (ICG) vessels could not reach the spot in the shallow waters, the boat has to be pulled out with the help of mechanised fishing boats, fisheries officials said.
When engineers were carrying out the repair works at the Scherzer’s span in the more than century-old Pamban rail bridge, a mechanised fishing boat had rammed the span on January 22 when the boat owner tried to cross the Pamban channel, triggering anxious moment.
Train services to Rameswaram through the bridge remain suspended since December 4, 2018 after the bridge authorities noticed cracks in some of the members of the span. A team of engineers from the Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC) had completed the stress level testing recently and presented the data to the railways.