KATCHATHEEVU
ISLANDS – GEOGRAPHY
News:
PM Modi mentions
Katchatheevu: Why the tiny, uninhabited island remains a hot-button political
issue in TN
What's
in the news?
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his
speech in the Parliament during the No Confidence debate mentioned the island
of Katchatheevu.
Katchatheevu:
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Katchatheevu is an island between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
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Katchatheevu is a 285-acre uninhabited speck in the Palk Strait, between India and
Sri Lanka. It is no more than 1.6 km in length and slightly over 300 m wide at
its broadest point.
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It lies northeast of Rameswaram, about 33
km from the Indian coast.
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It is about 62 km southwest of Jaffna, at
the northern tip of Sri Lanka, and 24 km away from the inhabited Delft Island,
belonging to Sri Lanka.
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The only structure on the island is an
early 20th-century Catholic shrine – St
Anthony’s church.
○
During an annual festival, Christian
priests from both India and Sri Lanka conduct the service, with devotees from
both India and Sri Lanka making the pilgrimage.
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Katchatheevu is not suited for permanent settlement as there is no source of
drinking water on the island.