Govt to promote lighthouse tourism

So far, 15 such locations have been identified with Chennai being one of them

The Director General of Lighthouses & Lightships (DGLL) is planning to promote tourism in lighthouses. So far, 15 such places have been identified and Chennai is one of them.

Lighthouse Directorate is tasked to provide aids to navigation. They maintain 185 lighthouses, 64 radar beacons, 23 DGPS stations and 25 deep sea navigation and wreck marking buoys.

In his address at the opening of Madras Lighthouse to visitors here today, shipping minister GK Vasan said the DGLL had chosen 15 lighthouses under this scheme, including Chennai.

Some of the lighthouses due to the nature of navigation are established at odd positions where basic living amenities are at its primitive state and the staff posted there suffer extreme hardship.

The DGLL had taken several welfare measures for their families and was in the process of implementing many more, he said.

The minister also said lighthouses were evenly spread along the Indian coastline and due to their even geographical distribution; they had been identified for establishing as country’s surveillance network.

In the process, it has set up a National AIS Network, which can track vessels up to 25 nautical miles (nm) from our coast.

Lighthouses are also being used for establishment of radar network. Combined together, they will form surveillance network which will help in easily identifying unfriendly vessels, according to him.

The minister also said a pilot project to identify suitable transponders for fishing vessels was in progress. This was intended to caution other vessels plying close to the coastline against possible collisions.

After successful trials, the project would be extended all over the country to provide navigational safety for fishing vessels.