Palk Strait Mapping

Palk Strait Mapping

Subject – Geography

Context – A festering crisis in the Palk Strait

Concept –

• The Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka.
• It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest.
• Several rivers flow into it, including the Vaigai River of Tamil Nadu.
• The strait is named after Robert Palk, who was a governor of Madras (1755–1763) during the Company Raj period.
• The unique feature around Palk Strait is that the waves around it, to its north and south are of high contrast.
  • To the north, the waves of Bay of Bengal are mostly swells waves while that on the south, in Palk Bay, are mostly sea waves.
  • Despite being a sea dominated area, the significant wave heights in Palk Bay regions are relatively low.
• Palk Bay is studded at its southern end with a chain of low islands and reef shoals that are collectively called Adam’s Bridge, it has historically been known in Hindu Mythology as “Ram Setu”, that is, the bridge of Rama.
  • This chain extends between Dhanushkodi on Pamban Island (also known as Rameswaram Island) in Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island in Sri Lanka.
  • The island of Rameswaram is linked to the Indian mainland by the Pamban Bridge.