On Ram Navami, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first vertical lift rail sea bridge, the new Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. Built at a cost of ₹550 crore, the bridge carries deep mythological significance, as it's near Dhanushkodi, believed to be the starting point of Ram Setu in the Ramayana.
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00:00These are the first images. First images on your screens of Prime Minister Modi
00:05in a veshti inaugurating the Pamban Bridge. The entire sequence on your screens. First here on
00:12India Today is the images of the inauguration of the bridge. As Prime Minister flagged it off,
00:16you see the bridge going right by and then that's followed by the vertical sea lift
00:21and the ship passing by. Prime Minister Modi accompanied there by Governor Ravi. You also see
00:27Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav. Right next to him is the State Finance Minister Tangam
00:32Ten Aras. Also witnessing this historic moment of the Pamban Bridge being inaugurated. And there
00:39you have it. The vertical sea lift taking place and the Prime Minister witnessing that historic
00:46moment as the ship passed by smoothly. This is a coast guard ship where you see all the personnel
00:52there waving the tricolour very very proudly. Symbolising what this moment means. This is
00:58India's first vertical sea lift bridge. Very fittingly in the beautiful waters of the Pak
01:05Strait and in Rameswaram. These are the moments right when Prime Minister reached there. Dressed
01:11in the traditional veshti with the ankavastram and talking to all of the locals who've gathered
01:17there to also meet with the Prime Minister. So many of them part of those who are greeting
01:24Prime Minister Modi. He's also getting a lowdown of what it took to construct this particular bridge,
01:30how it works and perhaps the history of the Pamban Bridge which I told you was actually
01:34built back in 1914 and since then was operational. But due to the weather conditions, the fact that
01:40this area is lashed by cyclones and of course obvious wear and tear that it stood tall for
01:46centuries together, you had in fact this bridge becoming inoperational. The government took it
01:51upon themselves to immediately ensure that this particular bridge is constructed. You have the
01:57Pamban Bridge once again up and going courtesy a vertical sea lift. So it's got essentially,
02:03it's been revamped with the latest technology and has the unique reputation of being the first
02:09vertical sea lift bridge in India. And you see the Prime Minister there, that entire sequence
02:15as he waves to the crowds, waves to the people are on board that coast guard ship as it went
02:20past the vertical sea lift in a matter of five minutes. Pramod Madhav is with us with the first
02:26sequence of images that we have Pramod of that iconic moment of Prime Minister Modi flagging
02:31off the Pamban Bridge, inaugurating the Pamban Bridge and that iconic moment of the ship passing through.
02:41It sure was a beautiful moment Akshita. In fact you see that the bridge is still lifted up
02:45it's a complete lifter. The platform what you see over here nearly 72.8 meters platform
02:49has been completely lifted up unlike the former one where the bridge has to be.
02:53Both hands has to be raised and through this particular ship we saw a coast guard ship
02:57very beautifully sailing towards that's the coast guard ship over there. It just moved so smoothly
03:01there was no issue at all and in a matter of span of like probably five minutes the ship was lifted
03:06and it was done. Within that the coast guard ship moved from this main new bridge to the
03:11second one the older bridge and then through the under bridge of that part under part and it went
03:15made a turn and came back maybe maximum of three minutes everything was over. The Prime Minister
03:19was here just like you mentioned he wore a dhoti and he dedicated to this beautiful bridge. It is
03:24a mechanical marvel and as we speak you see one track has been constructed and the other one
03:29is underway which means actually what's going to happen is that like the in the future a second
03:34track also can be laid at the spot and there are plans for that as well. Once it is done
03:39the people do not have to wait or you know once the flow of people increases it's going to
03:44definitely help them cross from Ramanathapuram and reach Rameshwaram very easily. So this is
03:49a bridge that has been constructed keeping a far-fetched idea keeping in mind that the flow
03:54of people is going to raise pretty soon and that's why it was constructed very close and we were just
03:59standing over here right next to this rail track to view all the Sakshita the train beautifully
04:03decorated and going through this path. It was completely beautifully with planted trees and
04:07things the traditional way it was constructed and there you had the bridge that also operated
04:11in a beautiful manner. The bridge is still raised up and probably in some time it will be brought
04:15down Sakshita. So Prime Minister Modi witnessing that moment when the bridge went up you had first
04:21the train going through and then you had the ship going across all in a matter of minutes. This is
04:27the sequence of images released by the PMO of the Prime Minister's visit so far that entire area
04:34decked up by the Prime Minister. This was the exact moment when he flagged off the train and
04:38with the train passing through that was the moment that signified that the Pamban bridge is now open
04:45to rail traffic and right after that you had the sea lift taking place and the ship going through
04:50all of which was witnessed by Prime Minister Modi there with that press of the button the sea lift
04:55taking place where the bridge just essentially goes up in a matter of minutes the ship then
05:01comes through. You see the Union Minister there of railways Ashwini Vaishnav also briefing the
05:06Prime Minister of exactly what it took to make this particular bridge functional and it's a huge
05:13challenge just imagine this bang in the middle of the sea this kind of infrastructure has been
05:19constructed in a matter of years at a cost of over 500 crores and it's a huge boon of course for all
05:26of the locals in Rameshwaram and for scores of devotees who make their way to Rameshwaram
05:31to be and to soak in the devotion of the Ramanathaswamy temple as well. The Prime Minister
05:38as we speak is at the temple right now but you see him there going ahead and also interacting
05:45with the locals many of them who were there as part of the traditional welcome party for Prime
05:51Minister Modi it looks like some representatives from the temple were also there as they were
05:55seeing chanting slokas when the Prime Minister reached he's also taken in a brief history of
06:01the bridge as you see there a small presentation that was laid out for him to understand the
06:05significance of this moment of the Pamban bridge being flagged off and the history how it stood the
06:11test of time for centuries together and only fitting really that you have the Pamban bridge
06:16once again functional for so many of us who visited Rameshwaram in the last many years like
06:21I have I remember seeing this entire stretch of two rail bridges unfortunately none of them were
06:27functional at that point but now you will have the one with the vertical sea lift operational
06:33the older bridge will slowly be dismantled and just set across that stunning blue of the park
06:41straight is truly a vision to behold the Prime Minister next is going to be at and is we
06:47understand at the Ramanathaswamy temple again I just like to put our focus on all the images that
06:52we've received today whether it's of the Surya Tilak of in fact a Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya
06:59or it's that moment when the Prime Minister had a darshan of the Ram Setu or this moment of the
07:04inauguration of the Pamban bridge if we put on each of those images it's a message that
07:10goes across on the occasion of Ram Navami of how Lord Ram connects and also of the divinity
07:17plus modernity that India truly stands for right now for the Prime Minister he had that
07:24rare auspicious moment and as he calls it a divine coincidence of getting a darshan of Ram Setu
07:31which is of course the Ram bridge you see those natural limestone shoals spread across that entire
07:36area centuries ago this was one area one piece of land that connected Lanka to Dhanushkodi now
07:43you see that the water levels have risen so pieces of stretches of land that you see in that entire
07:49area and the Prime Minister says that he got that darshan at 12 p.m for the four minutes that you
07:56had the Surya Tilak on the idol of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya all of this on the occasion of Ram Navami
08:03and it is on the occasion of Ram Navami that Pamban bridge has also been opened up opened up
08:10for devotees to go ahead and worship Lord Ram and also of course pay their respects to Lord Shiva
08:18on the occasion of Ram Navami so very fitting that it's on this day that you have the bridge
08:23being opened up we're also awaiting shortly images of Prime Minister Modi donning that
08:28wearing the Rangavastram to be in the Ramanatha Swami temple also for a very very special darshan