SUDARSHAN SETU

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Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Sudarshan Setu.

Details

Sudarshan Setu

• It is India’s longest cable-stayed bridge, in the Gulf of Kutch. Also known as Signature Bridge, it will link mainland Gujarat with Bet Dwarka island off the Okha coast in Devbhumi Dwarka. Gujarat’s first sea link Signature Bridgeis technically a sea link, a first for Gujarat.

It connects the Okha town of Devbhumi Dwarka district of mainland Gujarat to Bet Dwarka, an island around 3 km off Okha. Its total length is 4,772m, including a 900-m-long cable-stayed section. The four-lane bridge, constructed for Rs 978 crore, was funded by the Union government.

Cable-stayed bridge

• With a total length of 4,772 metres (4.77 km), it is Gujarat’s longest cable-stayed bridge.
• There is one cable-stayed bridge in Bhavnagar but it is hardly a few dozen metres long.
• The Narmada bridge in Bharuch is 1.3 km long. However, the Narmada bridge is an extra dosed cable-stayed bride, which technically differs from a typical cable-stayed bridge like Sudarshan Setu, as the latter’s spans can be longer.

Connecting Bet Dwarka

• After the Union Territory of Diu, located at Una coast in Gir Somnath, Bet Dwarka is the second largest island off the Gujarat coast. While Diu’s geographical area is around 40 sq km, Bet Dwarka is spread over 36 sq km.
• Bet Dwarka island is part of Okha municipality and has a population of around 10,000. At present, the only means of transport between Bet Dwarka and mainland Gujarat is the ferry boat service running from Dwarka to Okha, the nearest point of the mainland.
• The Signature Bridge will provide all-weather road connectivity to the island.

Religious tourism hub

• A major pilgrimage and religious tourism spot, Shree Dwarkadhish Mukhya Mandir, a shrine of Lord Krishna, is located at Bet Dwarka.
• The island also has dozens of other Hindu temples, a gurudwara and some mosques. Thousands of pilgrims, mostly Hindus, visit Bet Dwarka for darshan at the Lord Krishna temple.
• Though some agriculture does happen, fishing is the main source of livelihood on the island, besides tourism activities.

Unique features

• The bridge is supported by 32 piers, which support seven cable-stayed spans of 900 m length. This is called the navigation section, which will allow the movement of fishing boats to and from the harbour called Dalda Bandar.
• Besides its 27 m wide carriageway, the bridge has walkways on either side with its pillars decorated with verses of the Bhagavad Gita and images of Krishna. Solar panels form the roof of these walkways.

Affecting livelihood

• After the bridge is inaugurated, apprehend a drastic fall in passenger traffic for ferry boat operators. Large boats will be out of business.

Alternative avenues

• At the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January, the state government had signed an MoU with a private firm for taking
  tourists on luxury cruise rides to show them dolphins off the Okha coast.
• Some boat operators might try to convert their boats into special boats for dolphin viewing.

PRACTICE QUESTION Recently India’s longest cable-stayed bridge inaugurated in which state? Gujarat Maharashtra Karnataka Kerala Answer A