Sri Lanka and India are separated by a narrow strait called the Palk Strait. Although the two countries are very close, most Sri Lankans have to travel to India by air. But about 4 decades ago, Sri Lankans were able to move easily between Sri Lanka and India. This is through the maritime service known as the India-Colombo Express.
The service, which was started during the British rule to facilitate transport between India and Sri Lanka, had to be discontinued in the mid-1980s due to the rise of LTTE terrorist activities in the North. The present generation should also know about the Indo-Lanka sea postal service that we have lost. This is the history of the Indo-Lanka Sea Postal Service.
Reason for starting Indo-Lanka Sea Mail ..
By the end of the 19th century, tea cultivation was widespread in Ceylon and the British government received significant revenue. As a result, British planters began clearing more and more tea plantations. But finding workers to work in them was not easy due to the reluctance of most Sri Lankans to work on white tea estates. Therefore, the British had to bring in workers from South India.
The nearest road between India and Sri Lanka is through Dhanuskodi. From Thalaimannar to Dhanuskodi is about. M. About 32 miles away. However, Pamban Island near Dhanuskodi was not connected to India by road at that time. Therefore, in those days we had to use a longer road to reach Sri Lanka from India. So at that time Tamil workers were taken by train from Madras to Tuticorin and from there by smoke boats to Colombo. The distance from Tuticorin to Colombo was 270 km and the journey took a long time. Also more money was spent.
The British thought of a way to transport workers quickly from India to Sri Lanka. The best solution they found was to start a transport service from Tamil Nadu to Talaimannar via Pamban Island. At that time, the British planned to cross the sea from Mandapam town in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu to Pamban Island. M. Construction of a railway bridge with a length of more than 2 m. Pamban railway bridge under construction ..
Construction of the railway bridge began in August 1911, but it was not easy to build a bridge just over two miles [2 km] in the middle of the sea. However, Scherzer, a German engineer who joined British engineers, successfully completed the construction of the railway bridge.
Due to the relentless efforts of the engineers and its workers, February 24, 1914. M. The 2.065 meter long Pamban Sea Railway Bridge was opened. The railway bridge connected Mandapam town and Pamban island in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. This railway bridge is the first sea bridge in India. Until the construction of a bridge from Mandapam to Pamban Island in 1988, Pamban Island was connected to Tamil Nadu by the Pamban Railway Bridge.
Indo-Lanka mailing begins
During the construction of the Pamban Railway Bridge, two naval jetties were created at Dhanuskodi on the edge of Pamban Island and at Talaimannar to launch a smoke boat service from Thalaimannar to Dhanuskodi. The opening date of the Pamban Sea Bridge was 24th February 1914. At that time the Indo-Lanka sea mail was started. It was called the "India-Colombo Express". This service facilitated the transport of goods and passengers between India and Sri Lanka.
The train left Egmore Railway Station in Madras at 8 pm at that time and reached the jetty of Dhanuskodi Railway Station at around 3 pm the next day. Passengers arriving by train and cargo had to be loaded into two smoke boats parked at the jetty. The smoke boats left the Dhanuskodi jetty at 4 pm and reached Talaimannar at around 7 pm after a journey of about 3 hours. Passengers and goods arriving from there had to be transported to Colombo by night mail train. This transport service between India and Sri Lanka was in operation daily on that day.
Sea mail halted due to hurricane
On December 18, 1964, a typhoon formed in the South Andaman Islands, reaching a magnitude of 1 km / h on December 19, 1964. M. Reached Pamban Island at a speed of about 260 mph. The hurricane, popularly known as 'Rameshwaram Hurricane', hit the town of Dhanuskodi at a height of about 7 meters. The city of Dhanuskodi and the railway line were completely destroyed.
Newspapers at the time reported that about 150 passengers at the Dhanuskodi railway station had been swept away by the storm. A train parked at the Dhanuskodi railway station with about 200 passengers was also destroyed. The Pamban sea railway line was also severely damaged. As such, the Indo-Lanka Sea Mail has not been able to function for several years.
Sea mail resumes
At that time the engineers spent 5 years repairing the damaged railway line. But the Tamil Nadu state government authorities were not interested in rebuilding the town of Dhanuskodi. Also, the Talaimannar naval jetty which was destroyed due to the cyclone was not rebuilt. Sea mail, which had been dormant for several years, was revived in the early 70's. But its trajectory had changed somewhat.
In the newly launched sea postal service, the train from Madras arrived at Rameshwaram, the capital of Pamban Island. But it took a long time to reach Thalai Mannar from Rameshwaram by boat. Also, the naval jetty at Talayamannar at that time had been destroyed and passengers and goods were taken from the boats to the train using locks. Therefore, it took longer than before to travel from Colombo to Madras on the newly launched sea postal service.
End of Indo-Lanka mailing ..
The Eelam War began in 1983 in the north and east of Sri Lanka. During the 1984/85 period, the Yal Devi train traveling from Colombo to Kankesanthurai was blown up several times by terrorists. Therefore, the authorities were convinced that the continuation of the Indo-Lanka mailing service was a risky move. As a result, the year 1985 marked the end of the Indo-Lanka mailing service.
(Excerpt from the Internet)
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