UNI

Chennai, Jul 28: NASA has said the series of sand bars comprising the Adams Bridge off Rameswaram, where dredging was in progress under the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP), was a natural formation and not man made.

This was informed on Saturday by Sethusamudram Corporation Limited (SCL) CMD and Tuticorin Port Trust Chairman N K Reghupathy at a press conference here, citing an e-mail communication from NASA to this effect.

NASA findings assume significance in the wake of several Hindu outfits and some political parties objecting to the demolition of Ramar Bridge which they believe was constructed by Hanuman and his monkey's army to help Lord Ram and others to cross over to Sri Lanka to retrieve Sita, held captive by Ravana.

Mr Reghupathy said following an e-mail sent by an official of the SSCP on July 26 asking NASA to throw some light on the satellite image on Adams Bridge and whether it was man made or not, NASA replied that the chain of small islets connecting India and Sri Lanka were real geographical features mapped for centuries.

''Chains of Islands form a variety of natural geological processes and their occurrence is not evidence of any human activity'', NASA report said.

Quoting another NASA report, Mr Reghupathy said the sand bars, better known as Tombolos, in Adam's Bridge in Palk Strait connecting Sri Lanka to India indicate a constant sediment source and a strong uni-directional or bi-directional (monsoonal) long shore current.