- Scientist find triggers claim that islet chain was built by monkeys
M.R. VENKATESH
Chennai, May 7: 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 issue has raised political passions because a Rs 2,427-crore navigation project that will save the country Rs 1,000 crore a year requires the demolition of the ridge.
Adam%u2019s Bridge, a series of sand-dune islets and shallows south-east of Dhanushkodi near Rameshwaram, links India with Talaimannar off the Sri Lankan coast. It has long been held locally to be the bridge Ram built to invade Lanka and rescue Sita, and is called %u201CRamar Setu%u201D.
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Its unpublished report, of which The Telegraph has a copy, says the naturally formed corals in Lakshadweep, the Andamans or the nearby Gulf of Mannar grow vertically from a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 s
