Government scientists have suggested that an islet chain in the Palk Strait is man-made, triggering claims that it is the remnant of the bridge Ram%u2019s mythological monkey army built to Lanka.
The Centre%u2019s department of earth sciences has given an %u201Copinion%u201D to the government that the islets are probably a result of human activity.
The department, under the ministry of science and technology, says the sand dunes have a base of coral and sandstone that seem to have been %u201Ctransported%u201D from elsewhere.
Its unpublished report, of which The Telegraph has a copy, says the naturally formed corals in Lakshadweep, the Andamans or the nearby Gulf of Mannar grow vertically from a hard-rock base. But the Adam%u2019s Bridge coral doesn%u2019t grow vertically and appears to %u201Crest%u201D loosely on the seabed.
%u201CThe coral formations hardly occur 1 m to 2.5 m in length and rest on loose marine sands. Most%u2026 seem to be rounded pebbles of corals. These things appear to point that these%u2026 have been transported and placed in these areas,%u201D the department%u2019s note says.
%u201CSince the calcareous sand stones and corals are less dense (and therefore lighter) than the normal hard rock and quite compact, probably these were used by (the) ancients to form a connecting link to Sri Lanka on the higher elevations of the Adam%u2019s Bridge ridge and this is analogous to (a) modern-day causeway.%u201D
