Rameswaram, Jan. 23 -- The dismantling of the 111-year-old Pamban Railway Bridge has begun, as the people of Rameswaram island have requested that the historic bridge be removed from the sea and placed in a railway museum for the public and tourists to see.

The Pamban Railway Bridge, built in 1914 to connect the island of Rameswaram with the mainland at Mandapam, was the first bridge to be built in the middle of the sea in India.

The special feature of this bridge is that the suspension bridge built between the rails in the middle for ships to pass on was built to be lifted and lowered by human power. It was named after the English engineer Sheshersh, who designed it.

This bridge, which brought immense development to Dhanushkodi and Ra...