COVID-19: 10 fishing vessels allowed to pass as Pamban rail bridge opens in Tamil Nadu

Rameswaram: Around 10 fishing vessels carrying over 60 persons that were waiting for the Pamban rail bridge to open for about a week now, were finally allowed to pass, on Tuesday. The bridge was shut down due to the imposition of Section 144 in view of COVID-19. An officer from the Port office in Pamban said that the bridge was opened at 11.45 am after obtaining permission from district collector K Veera Raghava Rao.

Of the 10 boats, nine were from Nagapattinam. The 61 people on board the vessels were involved in deep sea fishing and had attempted to dock at Kochi port, but were disallowed from doing so due to COVID-19 scare. The boats travelled through Thoothukudi and eventually landed at Pamban in Ramanathapuram district, but could not cross due to the railway bridge being closed. 

“The fishermen reached out to their collector in Nagapattinam who eventually connected to the district administration here. Only after authentication were the fishermen allowed to proceed home,” the officer said.