Adams Bridge, Connecting Srilanka and India

Jayalalitha, an eccentric woman rules the southern state of Tamilnadu in India. This state shares its border with a nation called Srilanka which is a close friend of India. Eons ago  Srilanka was a part of India (geographically) and it was connected by a land route which by the ages has been engulfed by the sea. This area submerged now is called the Adams Bridge.

Adams Bridge is shallow, too shallow for ships to cross it. So all ships which goes from India’s west to East and vice versa has to circumnavigate Srilaka, this costs time, fuel, money and blah blah. If the submarine landmass that connects India and Srilanka could be dug up deep enough, it will greatly aid the sub continents navigational needs. But there is a catch.

This digging is a minor engineering challenge. But ages ago a Hindu story says that a guy called Ram (an incarnation of lord Vishnu) built a bridge from India to Srilanka to march his troops to conquer that land. This piece of info is taken up by Hindu’s in India who protest against digging up this shallow sea.

Though the protest is going on for a while, Jayalalitha who claims that she is a rational secular in her public life has given way to her Hindu extremists thoughts of her heart. This is probably because to forge an alliance with an Hindu fanatics party like the BJP. Hence she, all of a sudden written a letter to the Prime minister stating that its true that the Indian prince Ram, then did build a bridge (this is totally unconfirmed stuff).

Jaya’s decision is a serious one. If Adams Bridge is dug up, ships from Indian army and navy can cross from left of map to right without being overseen by Srilanka or Chinese posts placed in the Island nation. Opening up Adams Bridge will enable India to collect transit fees from ship that travel from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmaar and South East Asia via that channel.

Opening of the istumus would mean an enormous boost to the state of Tamilnadu which now under Jaya and want’s to be like Gujarat ( a rich state in India ).

I wish Jayalalitha thinks more than short term political alliance with BJP and better think about national progress. India has done to much to Tamilnadu (though it makes us starve to get water from neighboring states) and it would not be right for us to betray this great nation.