Sonowal plans to build lighthouses along Brahmaputra River
Government is trying to transform the Brahmaputra river as a major naval route, construction of a few lighthouses along the mighty river is also being planned.
Indian coastline now has 205 lighthouses, and some of those are more than a hundred years old.
(Representational Image)
Guwahati, Oct 21: Though lighthouses have been in operation for hundreds of years, their role has changed drastically in the last few years, and the Government of India is now trying to transform lighthouses across the country into centres of tourism.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said that as the government is trying to transform the Brahmaputra river as a major naval route, construction of a few lighthouses along the mighty river is also being planned.
Sonowal said that the Indian coastline now has 205 lighthouses, and some of those are more than a hundred years old. He said that efforts are on to transform the lighthouses into major tourist centres, which would also provide employment opportunities, both direct and indirect.
He said that the lighthouses would have centres for local culture and cuisine so that the tourists can have a feel of the locality. Moreover, tourists will be allowed to climb up to the top of the lighthouses to have a magnificent view of the sea.
To boost lighthouse tourism, a two-day lighthouse festival was held in Odisha, and similar festivals will be held in other parts of the country having lighthouses, he added.
Lighthouses have existed for centuries to guide ships. But in the last few years, the role of lighthouses has changed drastically, and all the lighthouses in the country have been digitized. Apart from guiding ships with lights, lighthouses now offer various other facilities to the captains of ships.
Sonowal said that with the sharp increase in maritime trade in India, the importance of lighthouses has increased manifold. In addition to guiding ships, lighthouses offer weather alerts, alerts on the behaviour of the sea, information about the depth of the water level, etc. The captains of ships can be in direct contact with the lighthouse operators to get minute-to-minute data for safe plying of the vessels.
Lighthouses have also started helping out fishermen who go into the deep sea for fishing. Earlier, fishermen always faced a risk of running into rough weather, and there were instances where a number of fishermen lost their lives. But now they can take the help of the lighthouse operators before venturing into the sea, which has reduced the number of accidents, the minister added.
By-
R Dutta Choudhury
