Museum to come up on lighthouse premises at Gopalpur-on-Sea

BERHAMPUR: A museum on heritage of lighthouses in India is proposed to come up on the premises of Gopalpur lighthouse on Orissa coast. It would be the first of its kind museum on the premises of any lighthouse on Indian coast. Directorate of Lighthouses and Lightships (DLL), the agency under the Ministry of Shipping of Union government has come out with this proposed project. It was stated by the Calcutta zone director of the DLL, N. Muruganandan, during his visit to Gopalpur on Sunday. According to Mr. Muruganandan, it will be an innovative project with an aim to develop the lighthouse at Gopalpur into a tourist destination. It is envisioned that the special museum will showcase the history and heritage of lighthouses on Indian coast. At present there are 185 lighthouses on Indian coast. Mr. Mruganandan also said that efforts were on to make most lighthouses run on green reusable energy like solar or wind power. Proper tapping of these two major reusable energy sources can provide ample power to run these lighthouses. Through this, these lighthouses would also become major destinations related to use of reusable energy in the country. Speaking on the progress of different lighthouse projects on Orissa coast, Mr. Muruganandan said construction work of the new lighthouse at Prayagi on Ganjam coast was scheduled to be completed by the end of next year. Construction work of the other two proposed lighthouses on Orissa coast would be started together soon. One of these lighthouses is to be located at Dhamra. Proposed site of the other lighthouse near the Devi river mouth had been objected by environmental activists as it is a nesting site of Olive ridley turtles.

Source: The Hindu